Some of the women and even some of the men at the 12th Annual St. Baldrick’s Head Shaving fundraiser at the Riviera Mexican Grill in Redondo Beach Wednesday night looked better after their heads were shaved.
But the same couldn’t be said for Redondo Beach Councilman Jeff Ginsberg, who was participating in the childhood cancer research fundraiser for the fourth consecutive year. Part of the problem may have been his barber, Mayor Steve Aspel. Instead of simply shaving his council colleague’s head, the mayor gave Ginsberg a mohawk.
“I told him I’d donate $500 if he’d let me give him a mohawk, and another $500 if wore the mohawk to the next city council meeting,” Aspel said.
Two other guests who offered support, but weren’t about to part with their hair, were Adrienne Slaughter and Jasmine Faulk. Slaughter, an Easy Reader/ Los Angeles Register advertising representative, has survived two bouts with cancer, once as a child and again as an adult.
Faulk garnered national attention two years ago when Stevie Wonder sang “Isn’t She Lovely” to her on stage at Wonder’s 17th Annual House of Toys Concert at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. At the time Faulk had lost her hair to radiation treatment. The treatment was successful and her thick. dark hair now hangs down to her shoulders.
Wednesday night Jasmine said she wanted to enjoy her hair a bit longer before going bald again. But she gladly took trimming shears to the heads of Team Jasmine, which included her dad Everett, a Hermosa Beach police officer.
Over $50,000 was raised Wednesday night, according to Riviera Mexican Grill owner ML Williams. She and her husband Danny began hosting the event 12 years ago after being approached by Chris and Sandy Willson-White, regular diners at the restaurant. The Willson’s had lost their son Zach to cancer several years earlier, when he was six-years-old. The couple organized the local St. Baldrick’s fundraiser for 11 years. This year, for the first time the event was chaired by longtime supporter Diane Douglas. Fox 11 meteorologist Dick Dickert has been the event’s emcee each year. ER
