NFL Cheerleaders Shave Their Heads on National TV to Support Leukemia Research
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Who says bald isn't beautiful? Don't tell that to Megan M. and Crystal B., two Indianapolis Colts cheerleaders who agreed to have their heads shaved to benefit leukemia research during the Colts' 20-13 Sunday win over the Buffalo Bills at Indy's Lucas Oil Field. Of course, the fight to cure leukemia has been a major focus of this franchise since head coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with the disease in September.
Earlier this month, over two dozen Colts players shaved their heads in a show of support for Pagano, who is undergoing chemotherapy to battle a condition that is in remission, according to recent reports.
The cheerleaders got in the game when Blue, the team's overstuffed blue horse of a mascot, issued a challenge -- if one Colts cheerleader could raise $10,000 for leukemia research by November 25, she'd get her head shaved. That's only a good deal if you're a great person trying to help someone you care about, and that's clearly the case here -- Megan and Crystal raised over $22,000 on time, and sat down for the buzz cuts. Blue began the festivities before somebody more qualified took over.
"I've just had personal experiences with people who have had cancer," Megan told 24-hour News 8's Daniel Miller. "I've had mentors and family members and volunteer at Riley and met little girls who have lost their hair and beat cancer multiple times. Just seeing struggles they went through and how they could overcome that and still have confidence and fight this fight without their hair - they are really my inspiration for doing this."
Megan and Crystal aren't alone. Local salons are donating $10 to "Blue's ChuckStrong Challenge" for every person who agrees to have their heads shaved. 800 fans have had their heads shaved so far, and more than $250,000 has been raised for leukemia research by Colts representatives since the "ChuckStrong" campaign began.
If you would like to know more about the campaign, visit the "ChuckStrong" section of the Colts' official website.
The Colts' organization is filled with high-quality people, but what makes this the feel-good story of the year is that one season after finishing with the a 2-14 record and blowing up the organization in the offseason, this team has a 7-4 record and is in the thick of the AFC playoff race with interim head coach Bruce Arians.
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bills fan here and i'm totally fine with getting creamed by the colts. this team deserved all the attention today. good for these girls- hopefully it raises awareness.
It took them a decade to sell/donate 2000 wigs while the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program did that in its first year. No one with cancer gets a wig from Locks of Love. Locks of Love really does throw most of the hair they receive out. They say it themselves. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/fashion/06locks.html
It really does seem like to me that people ASSUME it's for cancer patients, but the program is donating to specific set of people (this time, for people that suffer from alopecia areata). Then they get mad because their assumptions aren't true.
I guess people don't do enough research on charities and know who they're donating to.
I think what actually irritates me is that people associate hair loss with cancer and then they act like people who have alopecia areata don't deserve the hair like the cancer patients because it's a common complaint about the program ("Did you know that they don't donate the hair to cancer patients, they donate it to people with alopecia areata?! GASP."
TBH I don't have time for people who want to shame me about anything I've done. That's uncalled for.
I was also agreeing with you that Locks of Love isn't a scam as long as you do your homework.
So we're both okay. :)