Shave for the Brave News

Meet Laurita Miller, early fundraising front runner

Posted on Jan 18, 2011

We couldn't help but notice Laurita Miller's name on our leaderboard. She came out of nowhere and forced the competition to step up in a big way as she held onto the top spot for quite a while.

Who is she? It turns out she's superwoman: a mother of three, wife of one, owner of a cat and a yellow lab puppy, part-time writer, volunteer, and avid kayak and snowshoe enthusiast. As if she had a time machine, she put the Shave on her plate as well. 

She has stated her plans for 2011 on her blog: "more travel, more reading, more writing, and more giving." The giving got off to an early start when she signed up for the event. Although she's going bald for the first time since she could grow hair, she takes it all in stride because "when you consider the big picture, what's a little hair?" 

"I just wanted to help out. I just thought it was a really great cause," she said.

After spending time on www.youngadultcancer.ca and www.shaveforthebrave.ca, she was touched by the stories of young adult survivors and understood the need to have specialized programs for this age group. Laurita was inspired to participate last year but timing was off so she held off and kept an ear out for registration for 2011.

"It was too close to the Shave, I think it was about a week before, and I thought if I'm going to do it, I'd kind of like to have time to raise a fair sum of money."

Even with all the naysayers predicting she would chicken out, Laurita's mind was made up this past fall when her mother-in-law was diagnosed with colon cancer and she got to see the struggle first-hand. She says the only other cancer her family has had to deal with was her aunt's successful battle with breast cancer. 

"You'd be hard-pressed to find somebody that hasn't been affected by cancer in some way or another, and we've been really lucky up until now."

Laurita has to give her "wonderful, generous" network credit for helping her raise so much money so quickly. Once everyone realized she was serious, they all jumped on board to spread the word. She is recieving donations from people she's never met, from Newfoundland to Australia.

We wish Laurita's family luck as her mother-in-law recovers from her surgery, and we wish Laurita luck in reaching that $2,000 goal!

 

Read Laurita's blog: Brain Droppings

*Update: Ricky Greenwood has taken the lead! Stay tuned for the Battle of the Bald-to-be!