Colfax hosts St. Baldrick's fundraiser event

COLFAX - Colfax High School leadership class planned the St. Baldrick's Fundraiser on Wednesday, April 19.

ASB Advisor Heidi Lowe explained that their goal was originally to raise $16,000, which was a little higher than they would typically set it at, she added.

Mr. Gibb, the high school principal, announced at an all-school assembly that he would shave his head at the event if they raised $20,000, so that was the new goal.

"Right now, we're at $9,874.03," Lowe said during an interview with the Gazette Tuesday, April 25.

Lowe stated that the event went awesome.

"We started the event with Alex Binks, a senior who was the first shavee of the day," she said, adding that Binks shaved his head in honor of his brother Erik Binks who passed away in 2015 of childhood cancer.

During Binks's head shaving, a teacher Mrs. Cooper read something he had written about what he had gone through in his journey of losing his brother.

Lowe explained that they also dedicated the first shave of the day to Myles Rice, a guest of honor they had invited.

She added that he surprised them by showing up.

"He is a WSU basketball player diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma last September," she explained, adding that he couldn't play in the 2022 to 2023 seasons. However, after a five-month battle of treatments, he was declared cancer-free in March 2023.

Ryce and his father both showed up to the event.

"They spoke about their journey through this as well," Lowe said, adding that they do games at the assembly, and Ryce played musical chairs and participated with the students, which Lowe stated was pretty awesome.

"We had forty-one who came out to brave the shave for such a great cause," Lowe said.

"The event was beyond incredible," Lowe said, adding that at the end of the day, even though they did not reach their goal, high school principal Mr. Gibb came up front and sat down in a chair to shave his head in support of childhood cancer.

Lowe stated that Superintendent Mr. Pugh, CHS Principal David Gibb, Technology Director Carter Comito, Transportation Supervisor Tracy Imler, Bus Driver, and Art Teacher Mr. Barnett were among the forty-one who shaved their head.

The event also honored Atticus, a little boy who they had reached out to his family in 2018 to honor at the event that year.

"We did reach out to them again to see how Atticus is doing," Lowe said, adding that Atticus is in remission.

Brenda Neshaw, a former teacher at Colfax who still helps at the school, talked a little bit about her journey through cancer.

The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a volunteer and donor-powered charity committed to supporting promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives.

The Colfax High School ASB will be taking donations up until May 5, Lowe stated.

Donations can be made online at http://www.stbaldricks.org/events/COLFAX2023