Shave for the Brave News

Jack’s Shave for the Brave experience

Posted on May 12, 2010

Jack Daly, a fourth grader at Vanier Elementary School, recently gave a speech to his class about his experience Shaving for the Brave this year. Jack is certainly on his way to becoming a great writer, you can read Jack’s wonderful speech below. Thank you for Shaving and sharing your story Jack!

My Shave for the Brave Experience

Hi!  I guess you've all noticed that I'm pretty much bald. That's because I participated in Shave for the Brave. But anyway, my name is Jack Daly and today I am going to talk to you about why I Shaved for the Brave and about what it felt like and feels like. The reasons I decided to shave for the brave are because my pop has cancer and I wanted to help him and others who have cancer. The other reason is because I wanted to know what it felt like to be bald. I guess my wish came true! Before I shaved, I raised $957 for young adults with cancer. To raise this money, I first set up a web page on shaveforthebrave.ca and I set myself a goal to raise $500. I next sent out emails to friends and family to ask them to sponsor me. It was fun checking my webpage every day to see my progress and to read the kind and supporting messages left by donors. I was really surprised to beat my goal of $500 with more than a week to go before the big day.

Well, on the morning of March 6, shave day, I went to Bell Island to play a hockey game with a full head of hair, or as my dad called it, "some great cabbage." Then, I went to the Avalon Mall to get my head shaved with my mom, my dad, my brother, my nan, and my aunt. There were a lot of other people who were also there to shave their heads. It was like a bald party! When my head was getting shaved, it felt like my mom tickling me when I was younger. Well you know, being bald is kind of cold when it's windy or there is a low temperature outside. It was weird to touch my head at first because when I rubbed my head in one direction it felt pointy, but when I rubbed it in the other direction it felt soft.

Right after I had my head shaved, I had another hockey game, but here in St. John's. My teammates, who had just seen me a few hours earlier with a full head of hair, saw me bald for the first time! They were shocked to see me with no hair, but they also congratulated me.

The first time I heard about Shave for the Brave, I was at Mile One Centre. I was walking through the hall and I saw some people getting their head shaved. That is what inspired me to get my head shaved to support young adults with cancer.

The reason why I shared my Shave for the Brave experience with you today is because I felt good doing this and I would like to encourage others to step up and make a sacrifice for a good cause. I will certainly do it again next year and I plan to be a Head Hunter by organizing a school-wide shave here at Vanier. I am challenging you today to participate in next year's shave with me! Thank you all for listening. I thought doing Shave for the Brave was rewarding in so many ways and I felt so good doing it too. I also like my new hairdo.