At Regina, we hear a lot about service and how people can truly make a difference in their communities.  Emily Monick ’16 is making a difference and helping her community make change into a reality.

Monick has embarked on a journey to bring awareness and aid to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. This foundation works to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer. Through the funding of volunteers, like Monick, St. Baldrick’s gives money to many pediatric oncologists to fund life-saving research.

According to St. Baldrick’s website, over 175,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year. With so many different varieties of childhood cancer, St. Baldrick’s has to work very hard to bring research and aid to the many different cancers plaguing young children.

Monick stated that her reason for participating in the St. Baldrick’s fight against childhood cancer is that her donations would be able to help a large number of people. She also loves the philosophy behind St. Baldrick’s.

One of the foundation’s challenges to volunteers is to raise money by shaving your head. Monick will participate in one of their sponsored shaving events. Monick said that since she has donated her hair many times since the first grade, this challenge was comfortable to take on.

“Because kids with cancer often lose their hair during treatment, “shavees℠” for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation show their support by shaving their heads voluntarily, and inspiring friends and family to donate money to support childhood cancer research,” says the Foundation’s website.

Monick also has personal ties to the fight against childhood cancer.

She says, “When I was little, I used to spend a significant amount of time at Children’s Memorial, since my mom was a neuro-oncology and trauma nurse, and because of that and the stories the she has told me I’ve always had an interest in doing what I can to support pediatric cancer initiatives. It became even more personal to me when my little cousin Paris was born with neuroblastoma; thankfully due to an experimental clinical trial she is currently cancer free.”

The devastating facts of childhood cancer also inspired Monick to take on this venture. She has researched that every three minutes, a child is diagnosed with cancer. This sobering realization is a driving force behind her fundraising.

Monick used many different tactics for fundraising her total of $3,096.50. One of the most helpful ways was through Regina’s Jeans for Green days to raise money. Regina’s Student Council was very helpful in getting the word out about her fundraising.

Now at the end of her fundraising, Monick is torn on the idea of cutting her hair.

She says, “One part of me is really ecstatic and curious about what I’ll look like, but, on the other hand, I’m nervous because I haven’t had hair shorter than my chin since I was three and rocking a bowl cut.”

However, Monick is very committed to cutting her hair because she has picked a date for the event, February 24, 2016.

Monick has a message of gratitude for all of those who donated to her cause, and a message of hope for a world that is without childhood cancer.

If you are still interested in donating to Monick’s fund, visit her page at this link for more information.