SAP hosts a festive event for a serious cause
The “brave the shave” event held recently at SAP in Palo Alto had a festive air, with music and balloons and laughter, but the money raised that night is aimed at a very serious issue: childhood cancer. For SAP Vice President Rob Glickman, it’s a cause that he has come to know all too well.
Rob’s daughter Alesandra was born with Down’s Syndrome in 2003 and diagnosed with brain cancer in 2010 (a type of cancer that is exceedingly rare for people with Down’s Syndrome). To shrink the tumors, Alesandra had to endure every kind of treatment available, including chemo, radiation and a bone marrow transplant. The treatments caused Alesandra to lose all of her hair, which didn’t bother her that much, but it troubled her older brother Luca, who decided to shave his head to raise funds through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and show his empathy for her difficult struggle.
Alesandra, Luca and the students from Burlingame Elementary School, who raised $28,000 for cancer research
Luca’s first shaved head provoked teasing at school, but he decided to turn the attention into a positive and recruit his classmates to join the effort. Luca’s story of leading by example was chronicled by NBC News in 2014.
Kids step up to get shaved and give back
At the SAP ‘brave the shave event,’ there were over 20 fellow fourth graders from Luca’s elementary school in Burlingame who all stepped up to get their heads shaved. The kids were incredible fundraisers and collectively brought in over $28,000, which was almost half of the funds raised from the whole event.
St. Baldrick’s: a national effort to raise funds for cancer research
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation organizes head shaving events called ‘brave the shave’ to raise funds for childhood cancer research and build empathy for children who have to endure hair loss during chemotherapy. In 2014, St. Baldrick’s facilitated
SAP employee gets shaved by 49er’s Sourdough Sam
over 1,300 ‘brave the shave’ events that raised almost over $39 million to fund 200 research projects throughout the United States.
SAP ‘brave the shave’ event featured inspiring stories and fantastic support
SAP partnered with NetApp, a platinum sponsor of St. Baldrick’s, to bring the head-shaving event to Silicon Valley. Jonathan Becher, Chief Digital Officer of SAP, along with Rob Glickman, served as emcees and kept the excitement alive all night. Stanford neurologist and cancer researcher Dr. Yoon-Jae Cho and Stanford pediatric oncologist Dr. Liora Schultz shared some insights about treating childhood cancer and about the impact of funds from St. Baldrick’s on cancer research. There was also a surprise appearance by 49er mascot Sourdough Sam.
Camille Cabot talking to the crowd at the SAP event
But it was guest speaker Camille Chabot who really moved the audience with the story of her personal fight with stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Camille’s attributed her incredible survival and strength to her support system of family and friends, who created the #CamilleStrong Foundation to provide her with support and encouragement. “It’s the building block of everything,” she said. “Support is what gets you through it all.”
SAP employees get shaved to make a difference for kids with cancer
One of Camille’s supporters, Bob Giosso, an SAP Palo Alto employee, shaved his head (raising $1,800 before the event) and an additional $2K on the spot to shave his beard, which he had been growing for over five years. Bob was inspired by SAP co-worker Al Albarran Jr to donate, raise money and support Camille in tribute to a close friend and manager who had recently died of cancer. Al and his son Jayden also raised money during the St. Baldrick’s event and shaved their heads.
“The outpouring of support was really surprising. I put out a blast on Facebook and the responses were immediate and heartfelt,” Bob said. “I would definitely brave the shave again and I would recommend it as a refreshing experience that anyone should try once, especially for the cause.”
Supporting cancer research is a fit for SAP’s mission
“SAP is passionate about making an impact on cancer research and having an event like St. Baldrick’s hosted in Silicon Valley made perfect sense,” said Scott Behles of SAP Corporate Media Relations. “SAP’s mission is help the world run better and improve people’s lives, and we have longstanding experience in healthcare, including work with leading cancer research institutions such as Stanford Medicine here in the Bay Area, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) more broadly in the U.S., and oversees with the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) in Germany near our global HQ and in Seoul Bundang National Hospital in South Korea. SAP Palo Alto was thrilled with the opportunity to host ‘brave the shave’ and with its amazing success.”
To donate to the SAP St. Baldrick’s effort, visit the event website. To learn more about St. Baldrick’s, click here.
Al’s tweet and photo from the SAP Brave the Shave event
SourDough Sam with a St. Baldrick’s youth supporter
