Eleven brave volunteers were buzzed clean Tuesday for the second annual Stampede Shave for the Brave, trading their hair in for a brand new cowboy hat.
July 9, 2024 marked the second collaborative event between the Calgary Stampede and Young Adult Cancer Canada (YACC). The event is one of many held by YACC to raise money in their mission to aid young adults through and after a cancer diagnosis. More than $35,000 was raised in just this event alone.
“When we started 24 years ago, we looked across this great big awesome country of ours for others in the young adult cancer space, and we didn’t find anybody. So, we felt like we’ve got to do our best to be that resource, to be that community in that place where these young adults can come and connect with peers who get it,” said Geoff Eaton, executive director and founder of YACC.
YACC has been holding Shave for the Brave events since 2006 making this the 19th year in a row. The Calgary Stampede joined last year and came back in a big way this year with their team raising more than $25,000 between Graeme Ryder, executive vice president of business services & chief financial officer at the Calgary Stampede, and Stuart O’Connor, first vice chair of the board at the Calgary Stampede.
“We were at a board meeting and someone from our communications department said, ‘Hey, we want to support this cause, would anyone be willing to join and shave?’ and it spoke to me. I wanted to be involved. So, that’s when it started,” said Ryder.
Volunteers Adam Lopes and Tori Popowich flew in from Toronto to be part of the event to see the Calgary Stampede. They collectively raised $1,800.
“We have family members that have suffered from cancer, and I just thought it’d be a really powerful cause to participate in,” said Popowich.
YACC currently supports more than 5,000 young adults in their community around Canada. The money raised today and the rest of the year will go towards funding their online programs like YACC Chats, which provides a peer-led, anonymous way to connect with others sharing the same unique experience.
“Almost always the first step is connecting to the web. Once they’re there, we have a whole collection of web-based programs that we offer to them to get them engaged and connected to the community and other survivors,” said Eaton.
The money raised will also be used in their Recover Study, a longitudinal study that YACC is currently developing. A cohort of around 2,000 young adults affected by cancer will be part of the study to better understand their cancer journey.
“Recovery from cancer takes longer than treatment. We have a lot of anecdotal experience about what recovery looks like. We don’t know a lot yet from the literature. So we’re going to help change that,” said Eaton.
Eaton will be participating in the study as the principal investigator. He’s aiming to put his perspective as a cancer survivor and community partners to work to guide the research in the direction that will be most beneficial to the community.
“Typically it takes 17 years for research to go from findings to the end user. We can do that in one. So, we learn new things and we can implement that in our programs in less than a year,” said Eaton.
YACC holds around 100 events, like Shave for the Brave, every year. In 2024, they are projecting they will raise more than half a million dollars.
“We’ll be back for a third Stampede Shave for the Brave. The Calgary Stampede is such an incredible partner and the community is continuing to support this and we’re so grateful for it,” said Eaton.
