Teaneck resident Eliana Schochet is not your average teenager. The SAR sophomore is planning to make a drastic change on Sunday, September 25. She’s going to shave her head.

This bold move is being made in conjunction with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an organization established to raise money to help conquer childhood cancer. All donations to St. Baldrick’s help fund research that can save children’s lives.

Eliana was in fifth grade when she saw a video of people who were shaving their heads to help fundraise for cancer research. She was intrigued, “but I wasn’t planning to do it,” she said.

When she reached high school, she saw an ad for St. Baldrick’s and became more passionate about helping children battling childhood cancer, “but I had just started high school. How could I shave my head? Then I heard that my friend wanted to get involved also, so we discussed it. Did we really want to do this? We talked to friends and family and decided to do it,” Eliana remembered.

Eliana and her friend Shelomzion, also a SAR sophomore, make up Team Shelomzion and Eliana and, together, they have already reached almost 25% of their $10,000 goal. The girls have individual pages on the St. Baldrick’s website as well a team page, and donations can be made on any of the three sites.

On Sunday, September 25, between noon and 5 p.m., there will be a St. Baldrick’s Headshaving Event & Auction at which Eliana and Shelomzion will shave their heads in a display of solidarity with those battling childhood cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. The event will take place at the Sergeantsville Volunteer Fire Company, located at 761 Sergeantsville Road in Sergeantsville, NJ.

To support Eliana and Shelomzion, please visit www.stbaldricks.org/participants/Eliana, www.stbaldricks.org/teams/weshavetosave or www.stbaldricks.org/participants/Shelomzion.

By Jill Kirsch