St. Baldrick's and Go Ruck event

After finding out about Jaxsen's diagnosis, our good friend, Adam Lublinsky, contacted me and told me about a St. Baldrick's fundraiser he was participating in to raise funds for childhood cancer research. The St. Baldrick's Fundraiser is a volunteer-driven event in which brave individuals, who are sponsored by their loved ones, shave their heads to stand in solidarity with kids who lose their hair to cancer. Since the St. Baldrick's Foundation was created, they have had over 7,892 events and fundraisers and have raised enough money to fund $127,543,680 in research grants.  Nick and I were familiar with St. Baldrick's because Jaxsen participated in one of  their events in March of 2012. One of Jaxsen's little friends, Scarlett, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in July of 2011. Her parents formed Team Scarlett in her honor, and Jaxsen raised $127 and had his first haircut on stage in front of a thousand people.

Adam contacted us and asked if he could use Jaxsen's story to raise awareness and money for the St. Baldrick's fundraiser at the O'Loughlin's Restaurant in Arnold, MD. He told us that before the head-shaving event, many of the participants would be taking part in the Go Ruck event. This is another event that is dedicated to raising money and awareness to fight against childhood cancers like Jaxsen's.

The Ruckers started early that morning to complete a challenge course that was designed to test their strength, endurance, teamwork, and leadership. The group worked together to complete every challenge given to them by the Cadre, whether it be carrying a huge log, forming a human bridge for others to crawl under, carrying bricks, or doing strengthening exercises. The group was tight-knit, and if at anytime there was someone who was struggling, there were always teammates there to help lighten the load. This activity was used as an example of how the community can come together to overcome obstacles such as those brought on by childhood cancers. 

Nick, Jax, and I arrived to the event around noon. At this point, the Ruckers were almost finished with their challenge course, and were headed back to the restaurant where the head-shaving was going to take place. We ordered some food and waited until it was time to go meet them. About 20 minutes later, Adam met us at our table and told us that the Ruckers were back and were anxiously waiting to meet Jaxsen. We bundled up and headed outside to see them. When we walked into the tent, everyone "took a knee" and listened as the Cadre introduced us. He told everyone to take a look at Jaxsen and be reminded as to why they did what they just did. Jaxsen absolutely loved being the center of attention. While the Cadre was talking to everyone,  Jaxsen kept looking out into the crowd and giggling at anyone who made eye contact with him. He also played peek-a-boo with Nick in front of everyone! Needless to say, everyone adored him.

After the Cadre finished introducing us, Dave Smith presented Jax with his very own Go Ruck patch, an awesome backpack, and a very generous donation from all of the Ruckers. We were so surprised to be treated with such kindness. We then got a group photo to commemorate the day, shook hands and gave hugs to some of the Ruckers, and then went inside to wait for the shaving to begin. We waited with Adam, his wife Kristin, and our new friend Rocky. Jaxsen was having a blast talking with Rocky's adorable 3-year-old daughter Briella.

Before long, the shavees were making their way onto the stage in order to get their haircuts. Jaxsen was getting restless at this point, so we took him outside to run around. When we tried going back inside of the restaurant about 10 minutes later, we were told that they had reached maximum capacity and that we weren't able to enter. We were disappointed that we weren't able to witness Adam, Dave, Rocky, and the rest of the Ruckers shave their heads, but we were thankful that the restaurant was filled with so many wonderful supporters. We were so glad to be a part of such a dedicated, hardworking, generous group of people, and we couldn't be more thankful to Adam for putting us in contact with Dave and the rest of the Go Ruck team.

Oh, and did I mention that the Go Ruck team raised more than $31,000 for childhood cancer research?! Jaxsen definitely wouldn't have such a positive prognosis if it wasn't for the awesome people like the Ruckers who raise money for life-saving research. So THANK YOU to everyone who was involved in this event!!