Past president Kirk Wildman’s family had a challenging year after their oldest son Thomas was diagnosed with leukemia. To show support, the staff created the Baldy Fundraiser where all the money raised will be split between The Kids with Cancer Society (http://www.kidswithcancer.ca) and the Canadian Angus Foundation (http://www.canangusfoundation.ca). The Kids with Cancer Society supports families as their children fight cancer. The Canadian Angus Foundation supports youth development, historical preservation and education and research.
The premise of the fundraiser was that members would donate towards one of the three “candidates”, Kirk Wildman, Michael Latimer and Rob Smith. The person with the most money donated towards him would have his head shaved at the AGM. Up until the final moment, Kirk Wildman was in the lead. Thomas was very excited to have the opportunity to share the bald feeling with his dad.
The Wildman family donated a Buffalo Sabres hockey jersey autographed by Ryan Miller for auction. Sandy Margetts was immensely generous; not only was she the highest bidder for the jersey but she then presented the jersey back to Thomas with instructions for him to “stay well and grow into it fully”. There was not a dry eye in the banquet hall at that moment.
At the final moment just before Kirk’s head was shaved, the members in attendance donated an extra $5,000 to have all three candidates shave their heads. Kirk, Michael and Rob patiently endured a stream of people who came up to help make each of them bald. We’d like to thank them for volunteering for this fundraiser.
We’d also like to thank Doug Wilson from PSL Sabirnet Systems for donating his time to create the promotional graphics on our website. Our most heartfelt thanks to the members, the Juniors and the industry partners who donated funds towards this cause. We commend the Juniors who supported the fundraiser, in particular Erika Eastman who donated a heifer at their sale and Austen Anderson who donated one of his paintings for auction. The heart and strength of the Angus community is truly evident in the over $25,000 that was raised.
Donations can still be made on the Foundation website (http://www.canangusfoundation.ca), or by contacting Michael Latimer at 1-888-571-3580 until June 30.
To see photos, please visit http://www.cdnangus.ca/members/agm.htm#BaldyFundraiser
Posted by the Canadian Angus Association staff
Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca
