By Paula Brewer
Special to the Aroostook Republican
February may bring thoughts of Valentine’s Day romance, but one local event spotlights other facets of love. When a friend or loved one gets a life-threatening diagnosis, the emotion can be channeled into a cause – and in this case, what began as a spur-of-the-moment activity seven years ago has grown into a leading fundraiser supporting area cancer patients.
The 8th annual Planet Head Day will be held at the University of Maine at Presque Isle from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15, and promises to be an afternoon of fun, refreshments, and above all, community service. The event is a key fundraiser for Caring Area Neighbors for Cancer Education and Recovery (C-A-N-C-E-R), an Aroostook County-based nonprofit organization devoted to helping cancer patients and their families.
The premise of Planet Head Day is simple: Support science education by learning about space and having a planet painted on your head, and at the same time give of yourself and raise funds to help others in a time of need.
“We are neighbors helping neighbors,” said Louise Calabrese, C-A-N-C-E-R chairperson. “Every penny we raise in The County stays here.”
The organization is a support network for those diagnosed with cancer, Calabrese said. Staff contact patients, try to determine their needs, and work to fulfill them. Sometimes it’s getting prescriptions filled, sharing information, or even providing some financial help until different agencies step in.
“We’re the first step,” she added. “Call us the go-between. We’re there with any kind of support we can possibly give them. We stay with them until they’re off treatment or recovered.”
The group also provides “Bread of Life” baskets to patients, filled with baked goods “lovingly made and delivered” by volunteers, she noted.
The 2014 Planet Head Day theme is “A Love-In.” All monies raised go directly to C-A-N-C-E-R.
Participants “use their heads” by collecting pledges, being shaved or covered with a “bald” cap, and having a planet or other celestial object painted on their head. The bald heads represent solidarity with the many cancer patients who lose their hair during treatment. The paint and caps are provided by a grant from NASA.
There will be barbers and stylists present, free pizza courtesy of Pizza Hut, games for children, a door prize and possibly some new events this year, Calabrese noted.
Kevin McCartney, professor of geology and director of the Northern Maine Museum of Science at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, is Planet Head Day coordinator. He said the program began in 2007 as an educational outreach for NASA’s New Horizons, which launched a spacecraft scheduled to arrive at Pluto in 2015. At that time his friend and colleague Jeanie McGowan, the museum’s coordinator for educational outreach, was recovering from cancer chemotherapy.
“We wanted to highlight science education along with cancer awareness,” McCartney explained. The event is held near the Feb. 18 anniversary of Pluto’s discovery in 1930, and that year the date was fast approaching. He and McGowan organized the first Planet Head Day in just three weeks.
“It’s gotten bigger every year,” marveled McCartney, who said 35 people came that first year to have their heads painted. Now it is C-A-N-C-E-R’s major fundraiser, earning about $25,000 in each of the last two years, with more than 100 participants last year.
“It has grown way beyond our wildest dreams,” he added. Not only have adults gotten into the spirit, but so have local schoolchildren, including Boy and Girl Scouts. And, to share the festivities with a larger audience, each year Frank Grant of Grant Visuals in Presque Isle creates a video presentation for YouTube.
“I’m a big advocate of community service and what I call informal education,” said McCartney, “and one thing that absolutely blows me away is that each Planet Head Day a third or more of our heads, and increasingly shaved heads, belong to kids.”
Participating in educational outreach is one thing, but actually having their heads shaved and publicly supporting others is something McCartney believes is truly heartening. “They’ll learn a lesson about community service that will stay with them their whole lives,” he said. “And this is stuff they can’t learn in any textbook.”
“It’s been a wonderful trip,” Calabrese reflected. “We’ve met and helped so many of our neighbors. If anyone knows of someone in treatment for cancer, please call us at 768-6826 or 768-1033.”
For information on Planet Head Day, call the university at 768-9400.
Those who cannot attend may send donations to C-A-N-C-E-R, P.O. Box 811, Presque Isle, ME 04769, or call Calabrese at 768-0766.
