STEM Sorority’s Balding For Dollars Fundraiser Raises Awareness For Childhood Cancer

Photo Credit: Maya Koenigbaur

Disclosure: Co Editor-in-Chief Suhani Dosanjh was not involved in the editing of this piece.

Hamber students have turned fundraising into a competition, as eight teachers race to raise money for childhood cancer, knowing that the top four will have their heads shaved in front of spectators on Apr. 30. 

The event, organized by STEM Sorority, is a part of the Balding for Dollars Foundation, a registered charity partnered with BC Children’s Hospital. This foundation raises funds to provide support programs, bursaries, and organized trips for children in BC living with cancer or a blood disorder. Balding for Dollars also partners with Wigs for Kids BC and Eva & Co Wigs to ensure that every patient in need of a wig receives one, with the help of volunteer hair donations. 

At Hamber, the fundraiser is part of a contest. Eight teachers have volunteered to try to meet individual donation goals, which vary according to each teacher. For example, Mr. M. Todd (Math) has a goal of raising $300, but Mr. K. Lee (Math)'s goal is to raise $1,500. And the first four teachers who meet their goal will get their heads shaved on Apr. 30 in the main gym. As of Apr. 26, a total of $4,149 has been raised, more than half of the initial goal of $6,200, according to the Balding for Dollars website.

STEM Sorority executive Maya Koenigbaur (11) started the fundraiser in honour of her brother, a brain cancer survivor who got his treatment at BC Children’s. “I want to give back,” Koenigbaur said, “because almost everyone knows someone who’s gone through something like this.”

Koenigbaur’s story touched others as well, including Bryony Prior (12), another STEM Sorority executive. “I found a parallel between [Maya’s] story and one of my close family members who was also treated at the Children’s Hospital,” she explained. “So, yeah, I think it was really inspiring,” Prior added, referring to Koenigbaur’s story. 

To raise help awareness, STEM Sorority members advertised the fundraiser in a variety of different ways, including on the morning announcements, on Instagram Reels, and during in-person donation collections held on Fridays in April. 

They began recruiting teachers in November.

“We were going around at FIT and lunch, trying to find teachers who had hair, basically [...] Lots of teachers said no,” Koenigbaur explained. “[But] other teachers were really into it, and it was nice to get that validation. Like, oh, this might actually work.” 

In the end, eight Hamber teachers volunteered to participate in the fundraiser, including Mr. R. Lam (Business), Mr. E. Lau (LALS), Mr. Lee, Mr. D. McDonald (Technical Studies), Mr. C. Smith (Counselling), Mr. Todd, Mr. A. Wightman (Social Studies), and Mr. R. Worth (Music)

Many of these volunteers emphasized the importance of this fundraiser’s cause–not just spreading awareness, but giving back to BC Children’s Hospital, too. 

“I've had family members that died of cancer, and I've lost some friends too, and [I want to do] just like anything I can, to just, in a way, join that fight, fight that disease,” Mr. Lau said. As a student support worker, Mr. Lau said that he has worked with multiple students who have been through cancer and have been treated by BC Children’s Hospital.

Mr. Todd had similar views. “The cause is very worthy, and I am also excited [because this is] something that the school can work on [...] to bring people together to say that we did this.” He continued, adding, “If [Hamber] can get together and donate some thousands of dollars, then that’s something that we can be really proud of, 100 per cent.”

Mr. Lam added a personal connection to why Balding for Dollars was important to him. “As a parent with a child, and having used the facilities at the Children’s Hospital,” he said, “it’s important for me that they get enough funding to still keep being the best children’s hospital in North America.”

“Beyond a doubt, it’s a great cause,” Mr. Worth shared when asked why he agreed to join Balding for Dollars. His family has also been impacted by cancer; his father passed away because of colorectal cancer. “I know so many people [who have had] cancer rip apart their lives.” Humorously, he added, “And I think I look really good [with] a bald head.” 

As well as this, Mr. Worth’s old guitar student from 15 years ago reached out after finding out he was participating in Balding for Dollars on social media. “[The student] said, because I posted in my bio that my father passed away from colorectal cancer, and she saw that, she went, ‘my mother [and] grandfather passed away from the same exact cancer [...] so I know where you’re coming from,’” he said. Mr. Worth added that one of his students had also recently lost one of their grandparents to cancer. “I wouldn’t have known [about] that being their teacher,” he said. “But because of this event, I now have a different kind of connection with that student,” Mr. Worth stated. “I feel like it’s really bringing the community together.” 

Other teachers also shared a more personal connection to this cause. Mr. Smith spoke of a former student who was a childhood cancer survivor, but relapsed during his time in high school. However, the student never complained and returned to school in time for graduation. “I never saw that kid without a smile,” Mr. Smith said. “I just found out my next-door neighbour has breast cancer as well […] Cancer, it impacts everybody.” 

Many of the teachers are not scared to go bald. On the contrary, they are excited. Most shared the same sentiment: hair grows back, meaning that one shave isn’t permanent. Some even said that it was more comfortable being bald, like Mr. Worth, a self-employed house painter, who was “totally stoked” that his head would be cooler in the summertime. Mr. Todd thought the same and shared that he has actually been bald several times in his life. 

For many of these teachers, Balding for Dollars isn’t their first time participating in a fundraiser at Hamber. These seasoned volunteers have seen it all, from Mr. Lau and Mr. Lam’s participation in Student Council’s Spicy Noodle challenge to Mr. Todd’s appearance on Canada Sings, a reality music competition for charity featuring coworker glee clubs.

Due to the size and scale of Balding for Dollars, STEM Sorority ran into a few challenges. Koenigbaur said that for her, one of the largest difficulties she faced was actually starting the fundraiser in the first place, as a new student who started at Hamber in September, 2025.

“I didn't know anyone, I didn't know how to even start a fundraiser, because the school that I came from was really small,” she explained.

Koenigbaur discussed her idea with the Student Council, but instead found out that working with a club could help her meet her goal. Though she had a few options, she decided on STEM Sorority because she was already a club member. “I was really lucky to have Bryony and Suhani helping me,” Koenigbaur said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without their help and without the club.” 

As well, Prior described the struggle to actually start gathering donations. “Once people know about [Balding for Dollars], then they’re more willing to donate,” Prior said. “But the thing is our website [is] only online, and you can only pay with credit cards. So for a lot of students, it’s going to be hard for them to pay for that.” This led to gathering in-person donations on Fridays, where club members encouraged students to donate with candy. 

And, Prior hopes that Balding for Dollars will continue again next year. “Hopefully our club can carry [this fundraiser] on,” Prior said. “I think it would be amazing if we could make this a yearly event, getting new teachers to volunteer each time.” 

Talks have already begun between STEM Sorority’s current executives and their successors about this idea, according to Prior, and Koenigbaur also wishes for Balding for Dollars to become a Hamber tradition. “I definitely want to continue this next year and maybe make it even better, and there will be more awareness, because people will know about it from last year,” Koenigbaur said.