Pittsburgh-area elementary students shave heads for childhood cancer research

GREEN TREE, Pa. (KDKA) -- A handful of students from a Green Tree elementary school shaved their heads Friday to raise money for childhood cancer research. 

Thirty kids at Aiken Elementary shaved their heads to benefit the nonprofit St. Baldrick's Foundation. In the lead-up to the event, the kids raised more than $20,000, doubling their goal. 

"They love seeing each other go bald, cheering each other on, and seeing their friends support this. And parents really push because they of course have had family members that have gone through this so it hits people close to home a lot of times," said Aiken Elementary fifth grade teacher Bill Opperman. 

St. Baldrick's says when people shave their heads, it not only raises funds and awareness, but it also shows kids who lost their hair during treatment that they're supported.  

It was Aiken Elementary's 14th year participating in the fundraiser. Last year, St. Baldrick's and all of its head-shaving fundraisers around the country raised more than $23 million for research. 

St. Baldrick's Foundation says one in five children diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. will not survive. Since the foundation began, it says the 5-year survival rate has risen from 79% to 85%, but a 5-year survival rate isn't a cure. 

The nonprofit cites a recent study that shows because of the treatments they had as kids, by the time they're 50, more than 99% of survivors have a chronic health problem and 96% have severe or life-threatening conditions. So on top of finding cures, St. Baldrick's Foundation says a lot of research is also focused on preventing the lifelong damage that results from surgeries, radiation and chemotherapies given to young, developing bodies and brains.