Shave for the Brave was held March 24 at Emmaus High School.

The event benefited and supported cancer research, specifically pediatric cancer.

Shave for the Brave is a fundraiser through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to benefit pediatric cancer research. Volunteers had their heads shaved by barbers, who donated their time and services, and also collected monetary donations to raise a total of $74,370.89 for the foundation.

EHS teacher and coach Shannon Petrunak started the event in 2010 with eight honorees. Now, seven years later, there are many shavees. Many sports teams did it together to raise a lot of money and to get all of the team members to shave. Participating teams included the track and baseball teams with a goal to raise $66,000.

Petrunak’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, and while searching the Internet, Petrunak found St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

The foundation has a mission of helping raise awareness and funds to find cures for pediatric cancer. Petrunak thought of the idea for the Shave for the Brave event in Emmaus and this year it was co-run by Liz Del Re.

Shavees of all ages had the option of shaving in honor or memory of someone and many of the shavees did that.