Josh Shear

It was early February, and the beard had grown out of control. People told me I looked homeless. If I chewed my food, I chewed it with hair. If I drank anything, a layer stayed behind on my mustache. The sports editor at the newspaper never missed a chance to ask when I was getting rid of it. And co-workers at my new company were wondering if I actually did have a face under there.

OK, so that's a little melodramatic. I grew a beard. And the reason I grew a beard, to help cure childhood cancer? Yeah, those kids have a lot more to worry about than I ever did. All I did was get up in the morning and not shave.

As of the shave date, the Josh's Beard project had raised $2,679 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation (some donations and t-shirt sales are still outstanding). The Kitty Hoynes event on Sunday drew over $300,000 for the foundation.

It was amazing.

For my part, I have some thank yous to make for some individual fundraisers.

» The #Syracuse/#CNY Twitter community
» Jen at She Takes The Cake
» Chris K for #100Tweets100Bucks
» Tracy T and Matt T for #NutellaFest and #SHUTITDOWN
» Data Key Communications LLC for a large cash donation
» Assault City Roller Derby, Palace Theatre and Jeffrey Meyer/Brew & View

And everybody who donated, said, "That's awesome!" and ran a hand through the beard, even if you were just looking for Jimmy Hoffa.

Note: We have eliminated the cake donation not-an-auction.

Hey, want a cupcake? Yes, you really do. Because they're from Jen at She Takes The Cake. And they help beat the snot out of cancer.

Here's the deal: $2.50 per cupcake (order online), you pick 'em up, Jen puts the proceeds toward St. Baldrick's, which makes grants to help fight cancer in children. You can get more info, including a link to order cupcakes via Paypal, on Jen's blog.

Do it. Now.