Centre News

This year's St. Baldrick's Day at Centre will be Friday, April 13,
but alums Emily Gregory ’11 (above) and Anita Allison-McNutt
’11 are ahead of the curve. The two raised over $4,000 for the St.
Baldrick's organization and shaved their heads for cancer
awareness earlier this year.

In the midst of preparing for midterms, some Centre students are also taking on the philanthropic task of raising money for St. Baldrick’s Day.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation calls itself “a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives.”

St. Baldrick’s Day at Centre is Friday, April 13, and Centre students are in the process of raising money to benefit the foundation. Many students take it a step beyond donating funds to the charity by also shaving their heads in an act of support for children who lose their hair in the battle against cancer.

The Centre community has remained dedicated to raising money for the organization and the children it assists for years. To watch a Sights and Sounds about St. Baldrick's Day at Centre last year, click here.

Several Centre alums have already made an impact on behalf of St. Baldrick’s this year. Anita Allison-McNutt ’11 and Emily Gregory ’11, both medical students at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, raised more than $4,000 for the organization with a fellow med student—breezing past their original goal of $2,000.

“I wanted to participate because several of my sorority sisters did in college and raised a lot of money,” Gregory says. “I was really inspired by their and the other campus members' dedication to this charity.”

The alums also shaved their heads for St. Baldrick’s—and for children they work with personally as medical students.

“Since I've come to medical school, I've been volunteering on the oncology floor at Kosair Children's Hospital, one of the hospitals benefited by the money raised for St. Baldrick's,” Gregory says. “The kids there are amazing—they're so excited to have visitors and so grateful for every day they have. They just want to get better. I figured if giving up my hair would help even one of those precious kids, then it was well worth it.”

Gregory was glad for the chance to make a different both through fundraising and by showing the young cancer patients she works with that she supports them.

“I really liked the idea that I wasn't just raising money—although raising money is so important to fund the research that will get these kids in clinical trials to help them,” Gregory says. “I was raising awareness and standing in solidarity with these kids that lose their hair not by choice.”

“If you want to truly make a difference in someone's life, St. Baldrick's is such an amazing way to do it,” Gregory continues. “It literally saves kids’ lives by getting them access to treatment that they may not be able to afford or that may not be available otherwise.”

To see more pictures of Allison-McNutt and Gregory participating in St. Baldrick's Day, click here. To get involved, visit the St. Baldrick’s website here.

Have comments, suggestions, or story ideas? E-mail elizabeth.trollinger@centre.edu with your feedback.

Centre College, founded in 1819 and chosen to host its second Vice Presidential Debate in 2012, is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges, at 42nd in the nation, and ranks 27th for best value among national liberal arts colleges. Forbes magazine ranks Centre 34th among all the nation’s colleges and universities and has named Centre in the top five among all institutions of higher education in the South for three years in a row. Centre is also ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News for its study abroad program. For more, click here.