Councillors to go cue-ball for children's cancer research

Posted Feb 16, 2012 By Laura Mueller

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Stittsville Coun. Shad Qadri showed off his freshly shaved head alongside a Shave for the Cure volunteer during last year's event. Qadri will be joined by two more councillors this year for the fundraiser for childhood cancer research.

Courtesy of Coun. Shad Qadri

Stittsville Coun. Shad Qadri showed off his freshly shaved head alongside a Shave for the Cure volunteer during last year's event. Qadri will be joined by two more councillors this year for the fundraiser for childhood cancer research.

EMC News - There will be a few naked scalps around the council horseshoe by the end of the month after three councillors signed on to the Shave for a Cure, an annual fundraiser that supports research of childhood cancers.

The addition of councillors Keith Egli (Knoxdale-Merivale) and Tim Tierney (Beacon Hill-Cyrville) to the Shave for a Cure fundraiser is a small comfort to Stittsville Coun. Shad Qadri, who was the only city councillor to go bald for the cause last year.

It wasn't the first time Qadri shaved his head in the name of charity - the 2012 event will mark the sixth time he has gone bald for a fundraiser.

His first foray into the world of fundraising for childhood cancers was following the death of Tori Carswell, a young Stittsville girl who died of neuroblastoma in 2004 and in whose memory Tori's Helping Hand charity was established in 2005.

Qadri was approached by University of Ottawa medical students to participate in the Shave for a Cure last year, and he didn't hesitate.

He raised $850 last year, beating his goal of $750, the same goal he'll try to repeat this year.

Having a hairless dome is much different in the winter than it is in the summer, Qadri said.

"Not that I have a lot of hair to begin with," he joked.

It will be the first time Egli has his head shaved, and he said his wife is not looking forward to his new look.

"She says it's a preview of what's to come," he said.

The cause is an important one, Egli said.

"Cancer touches us all," he said.

"Let's face it - hair grows back," Tierney added.

To donate to one of the councillors' campaigns, go to the St. Baldrick's Foundation website, www.stbaldricks.org, click on "make a donation" and search for the councillor's name.

The shaving event will take place on Friday, Feb. 24 at the Civic Centre at Lansdowne Park before the puck drops for the Ottawa 67's-Barrie Colts game at 7:30 p.m. It is the ninth-annual Shave for the Cure.