St. Baldrick’s Day fundraiser and McMullan’s Irish Pub are a perfect fit
Hundreds of people will have their heads shaved this weekend for the 11th anniversary St. Baldrick’s Day fundraiser to help fight children’s cancer. Our man-about-town colleague RJ columnist John Katsilometes will go bald for the fifth consecutive shave-a-thon with “Absinthe’s” beautiful burlesque star Melody Sweets handling shaving.
The St. Baldrick’s events are headquartered at McMullan’s Irish Pub near The Orleans on Saturday and Sunday, and it’s not too late to round up friends to sponsor your moment under razor. Kats gets his head shorn March 11 at Nine Fine Irishmen at New York-New York’s Brooklyn Bridge forecourt.
He also raised funds Sunday with his 51st birthday at Copa Room at Tuscany Suites with “One Card Short of a Full Deck” (Neil Diamond, Jack White, Queen, Heart) that starred Clint Holmes, Frankie Moreno, Zowie Bowie, Franky Perez, Skye Dee Miles, Niki Scalera and even sports broadcasting legend Al Bernstein.
I asked publican Brian McMullan, who spearheads the fundraiser, to give us a rundown:
What is St. Baldrick’s?
St. Baldrick’s was started in New York by three Irish Americans in 2001. One of them wanted to raise money for childhood cancer research and asked his friends how they could raise $17,000 on St. Patrick’s Day. A challenge followed:
If you shave your head in solidarity with kids who lose their hair through chemotherapy, I’ll give you $1,000. The challenger said, “OK, I’ll do the same for $1,000.” The day came, and they went to their favorite Irish bar, shaved their heads and raised $104,000. St. Baldrick’s was born. Its sole mission is to raise money for childhood cancer research.
When did you start it here?
We started in March 2007. My wife, Lynn, and I had heard about St Baldrick’s through our daughter’s nurse in Denver. We investigated the foundation and decided to start our event. We gathered friends and started trying to raise $100,000.
To our surprise, we raised $152,000 the first year. We had no idea what we were doing or how much fun it would be. It was the beginning of something very special in our community.
Why in a pub?
We own McMullan’s Irish Pub and most of events at the time on the East Coast were in pubs. We thought our pub would be a perfect fit, which it has proved to be.
How has St. Baldrick’s grown here?
From our first year in 2007 through November 2016, the total raised across the valley is $5,284,409, of which $3,421,835 is by McMullan’s.
Why did you get involved?
Our daughter, Kyra McMullan, was diagnosed with Choroid Plexus Carcinoma, a malignant brain tumor when she was 1. She battled valiantly through multiple surgeries and chemotherapy. Kyra passed away at 2 1/2 in 1996. We were living in Denver at the time and moved here the following year.
What don’t people know about pediatric cancer?
One child every two minutes is diagnosed with childhood cancer. Childhood cancer is very different than adult cancer. The federal government gives 96 percent of its research dollars to adult cancer and only 4 percent to childhood cancer.
How many people have had their hair shorn over the years?
At McMullan’s, 3,390. I’m not sure how many in the rest of the city, but I can safely say more than 5,000 have shaved their heads in the valley.
How much money has been raised nationwide?
Since 2005, The St. Baldrick’s Foundation has provided more than $200 million in research grant funding.
What happens with the money raised here?
The money goes directly to The St Baldrick’s Foundation. The foundation issues grants every year. The Cure for the Kids Clinic in Las Vegas has been a beneficiary. We can’t hope to cure childhood cancer on our own here.
We rely heavily on The Children’s Oncology Group’s whose ambitious initiative is to find better cures for every type of childhood cancer no matter how rare. We are teamed up with more than 200 pediatric cancer programs, all of whom share their knowledge in this bid to fight and find a cure for the multitude of forms of childhood cancer.
What are the plans for St. Baldrick’s this year at McMullan’s?
Our event takes place Saturday and starts at 11 a.m. and ends at 2 a.m. Sunday. We will probably shave 400 to 450 heads this year.
And elsewhere in Las Vegas?
Ri Ra Irish Pub on Saturday; Nine Fine Irishmen at New York-New York, Sons & Daughters of Erin and Khoury’s Fine Wine & Spirts all on March 11; and Rancho High on March 18. We would like to encourage more venues to take the plunge and participate in raising money.
Has there been progress in finding a cure for children’s cancer?
It took decades of research to reach the day when now 90 percent of kids with the most common form of leukemia are cured. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation funds those discovery research projects for steady progress in all types of childhood cancer, some of which still have no cure.
We also support more high-risk, high-reward research like The Dream Team that is using genomics and immunotherapy to help the immune system fight cancer and has resulted in cures for some who had no hope until now.
What resources are here for parents with children with cancer?
Cure for the Kids is a local clinic that treats all children affected with cancer, blood diseases, hematology and rheumatology.
What happens with the shorn hair?
The shorter hair and hair not being donated is swept up into large garbage bags. We are constantly sweeping and carting bags of hair away. It’s quite a sight to see! This year, we will be posting pictures of the heaps of hair on social media.
Most of the hair is thrown away, but we encourage shavees with hair longer than 8 inches to donate their hair to Locks of Love, Pantene Beautiful Lengths and Wigs for Kids. Our committee ensures that hair gets to each of these organizations.
Join us at McMullan’s on Saturday. I’ll be one of the late-afternoon MCs along with Jennifer Romas and her “Sexxy” showgirls from Westgate.
