Mar 21, 2017 12:22 PM EDT By Eleanor Bright, UniversityHerald Reporter

St. Baldrick's Foundation members voluntarily had their heads shaved heads to promote cancer awareness and raise funds. Most of the participants were students and teachers from high schools, colleges and universities. The event was part of the celebration of St. Patrick's Day every 17^th of March.

The name of the foundation is a combination of the word "bald" and "Patrick", the saint's name. Seventeen years ago, the first head-shaving for the cause of cancer was held at St. Patrick's Day. Volunteers proudly displayed their bald heads to show that they understood how cancer victims felt after losing their hair during cancer treatment. It is the students' and teachers' way of telling these patients that bald is beautiful, according to US News.

Most of the participants in the St. Baldrick's Day event had family members who suffered from cancer while some had survived the deadly disease. The Joel Barlow head shaving event brought more than $16,000 to add to the fund for cancer victims.

St. Baldrick's Day was also celebrated in other parts of the country with the symbolic head shaving. The Herd Boulder Student Alumni Association hosted the head-shaving event at the University of Colorado. The alumni association partnered with a cosmetology school. The head shaving was done by cosmetology students of Montage Academy. Several students willingly had their hair shaven to contribute to the fund, according to the Daily Camera.

Hair loss is just one of the side-effects of undergoing chemotherapy. Medications used in therapy target cells that multiply fast and cause cancer. The drugs would most likely attack healthy cells as well. The hair follicles are destroyed and this causes the hair to fall.

St. Baldrick's Day lets people who lose all their hair realize that they should not be ashamed. They must be proud because they took the courage to undergo treatment despite of the risks such as losing all their hair.

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