Sophomore Robert Ryan Lane will trade his blonde hair to sport a bald head, proudly showing his support for St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
Lane, who recently moved from Bermuda, wants to make the St. Baldricks annual shaving event a tradition at New Trier. His father, Robert Lane, was diagnosed with cancer three years ago with non-Hodgkin’s follicular lymphoma.
Inspired by his father’s fight with cancer and a willingness to give back, Lane writes about his father on the St. Baldrick’s website, “In the process of fighting his disease and undergoing 6 months of chemotherapy and radiation, my Dad through his personal and professional relationships raised a world’s best $108,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation by shaving his head.”
Taking the lead from his father’s fundraising, Lane made a goal of raising $10,000, after reaching out to his friends, family and other contacts.
He surpassed his own goal. The Director at the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, Lori Enterline, applauded Lane’s efforts in an email stating, “Your brave and wonderful dad shaved with St. Baldrick’s not too long ago to help kids with cancer, and I was moved to see that you’re doing the same this year.”
Enterline continued to praise Lane’s enthusiasm to raise awareness, “Just know you have huge fans here at St. Baldrick’s because what you and your dad have done, and are doing, to help families you don’t even know is beyond measure.” Participating with Team Amo, that has raised $17,000, Lane plans on shaving his hair at the St. Baldrick’s event held at the Fado Irish Pub in Chicago on March 15 at 2:45 p.m.

The Foundation, which started more than a decade ago in 1999, has raised more than $136 million in research grant funding. The volunteers of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation alone raised $30 million last year.

St. Baldrick’s foundation has created a tradition of shaving among people worldwide for cancer research. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation raises money in a bold and supportive way that also creates awareness of cancer that specifically targets children.
St. Baldrick’s foundation specifically funds the research that could help cure children’s cancer. Most government grants fund research for cancer in adults rather than children, even though more children in the U.S. are lost to cancer than any other disease.
The foundation actively involves volunteers to push political leaders to invest in research on children’s cancer stating, “One child every three minutes gets diagnosed with cancer.”
The annual shaving event dates back to the beginning of the foundation, even the name St. Baldrick’s is a combination of “Bald” and “St. Patrick.” Shaving symbolizes emotion for the thousands of children who are diagnosed with cancer and lose their hair to chemotherapy. Lane supports this Foundation for the custom it has started. “I want to have people here at New Trier follow my footsteps and do what I’m doing to spread the positivity and create a tradition,” he said.
Lane explained about the event that will be held at Fado Irish Pub, “It’s an enjoyable way to raise awareness and do something good. There are many professional barbers who volunteer specifically for the event and when they start shaving, they make funny hairstyles and have fun while shaving all their hair off,” he said.
St. Baldrick’s Foundation is known for this event, but also has many other ways a person can participate in raising awareness, the website proposes, “The first step is to show up at the event even if you’re not participating.”