By now, we’ve all seen the photos of men and women sacrificing their curly locks to raise money for St. Baldrick’s and its efforts to prevent cancer among our most innocent citizens, our children.

This year, Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q teamed up for its fourth year to support the fundraising efforts of this organization, and one of its top fundraising teams, The Bald Entrepreneurs. On February 25th, Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q donated meals for 300 volunteers and “shavees” for a St. Baldrick’s fundraising event held at The Factory in Wake Forest, NC.

St. Baldrick’s fundraising goal for this event was $100,000 however an impressive $116,478 was raised.

Chris Wright, event organizer, states, “The dust has settled from our hugely successful St. Baldrick’s fundraising event and I wanted to reach out and express our appreciation to Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q for supporting The Bald Entrepreneurs.” Wright adds, “It is businesses like Smithfield’s that help us put on this fundraiser and make it so successful.”

Richard Averitte, restaurant operations & director of marketing, for Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q explains that, “Contributing to our community has always been a big part of Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q’s heritage. We will continue to support organizations like The Bald Entrepreneurs – one of the top fundraising teams for St. Baldrick’s in the country. Big Deal!”

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

• What began as a challenge between friends in 2000 has grown into the world’s largest volunteer-driven fundraising opportunity benefiting childhood cancer research.
• Since 2000, more than 123 million USD has been raised for childhood cancer research, including more than $5 million raised so far in 2012.
• The St. Baldrick’s Foundation funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government.
• The St. Baldrick’s Foundation coordinates worldwide signature head-shaving events where volunteers get bald to stand in solidarity with kids with cancer and raise money to support life-saving childhood cancer research.
• From 2000 to 2012, more than 210,000 shavees, including over 20,000 women, have shaved their heads at more than 5,200 St. Baldrick’s events worldwide.