Bands, BBQ, Beers, & Balding is an event that truly lives up to it’s name. Saturday April 15th had the Laurel Packinghouse in the heart of downtown buzzing for more reasons than one. The food prepared by Okanagan College and the Chefs Association of Kelowna was mouth watering, the drinks from cellar tek, red bird, nagging doubt & other local wineries & breweries were flowing, and the music by the N.F.A. Band was rocking the crowd!
If you were there, you know the energy was high, and the smiles contagious. The 7 participants geared up for their brave head shaves on the stage, with a couple participants having enough to donate for a wig too! Of course these lovely folks doing the ‘Balding’ were the apex of the event, the whole reason for it’s existence- raising much needed funds for families going through childhood cancer in BC! They were the true heroes of the event and their fundraising campaign efforts combined with ticket sales, corporate donations, drink and raffle prize tickets, they were able to raise over an incredible $80,000 total thanks to this amazing community!
They tipped the scales over $50,000 raised for Balding for Dollars post event, and over $30,000 for JoAnna’s House at KGH. This is no easy feat and makes up about a quarter of our total annual funds raised. We are so grateful for the Kelowna community’s support and especially to the event host behind it all, Bernie Ryan!
$80,000+ raised in a singular event doesn’t just come from anyone, it comes from a persistent, grateful individual, like Bernie, with some extra time on his hands, an incredible community behind the cause, and a few hairs on his head to spare helps too!
Bernie celebrated 9 years of the BBBB event in Kelowna, but his milestone 20th personal shave & event for Balding for Dollars, having started with the moto GP events in the lower mainland 2 decades ago, before bringing it up to the interior. The cumulative effort of personal shave funds, and all of his hosted events over the years has him surpassing $600,000 raised for Balding for Dollars at BCCH! We can never thank him enough, but I hope he knows how grateful we are, and especially the families who benefit from the “Bernie” fund, AKA our teen & family programing- the fun stuff!
Bernie Ryan, Marissa D., & Suzanne D. at the Balding for Dollars Main Event May 6th, 2023.
