Written by Ashlynn Leka|
Pictures from Luciano Duffy|

Last year Old Saybrook High School senior Luciano (Luke) Duffy started an event called ¨Lose Your Locks With Luke¨ that raises money for Camp Rising Sun which is a no-cost summer camp in Connecticut for children with childhood cancer and children who are survivors of childhood cancer. The Duffy family hopes to spread the word about this event and about early childhood cancer. The month of September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Luke started this event because “I wanted to give back to Camp Rising Sun. Camp Rising Sun has given so much to me, and I thought that it was my turn to give back to them¨. The significance of shaving the head is ¨to show support for the brave young boys and girls who battle cancer When cancer strikes one of the go-to methods to cure is chemotherapy. This saves lives daily, but the major side effect is the hair loss. By shaving one’s head, it brings awareness to the leading cause of death for children ages 5-14: childhood cancer.”

Last year this event raised $ 7,000. This year the event is in memory of fellow camper and friend of Luke, Marik. Marik was 15 years old and unfortunately, passed away April of 2018 battling Osteosarcoma for the third time. Osteosarcoma is a very rare bone cancer that mostly affects children and young adults. Treatment typically requires surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.

Lose Your Locks with Luke will take place on Saturday, October 20th at 3:30 to 6:30pm at Old Saybrook Senior High School

Guidelines for shaving your head-

At Least 8-inches of the hair must be cut off

Raise a minimum of $100 which can be donated at the link at bottom of the page.

Or

You can shave your head

If you would like to join and help donate you can the link is below-

2nd Annual Lose Your Locks with Luke