Brotherhood of Bald People Worldwide

A special thank you goes out to Noah's family for allowing us to post these pictures. Noah recently went through medical treatments for cancer. A friend of the family purchased Brotherhood t-shirts for Noah and his dad (who shaved his head in support of his son). We've heard that Noah "loves that shirt and always gets compliments on it--people love it, too!":

The Brotherhood donates t-shirts to Children's Hospital, but the goal is to find a company that will sponsor the line so the shirts can be given out to children all over the country.

Vicki Neis, a child life specialist at Children's Hospital, said the Brotherhood t-shirts help children with cancer feel accepted. "People are concerned when they see a child with no hair, but if they're wearing the T-shirt it says, 'I do know I'm bald, but you don't have to worry,' " Neis said.

MANSFIELD -- Julia Crittendon has taken the old saying about making lemonade out of lemons to heart. Or rather she's taken it to her head, choosing to use the condition that caused her hair to fall out as an avenue to help others. 

The former Mansfield resident recently self published "Metamorphosis: Inspirational Stories of Women Living with Alopecia." The book charts the experiences of 22 women as they dealt with hair loss and what it's like to be a bald woman. 

"People are still hiding from it," Crittendon said, noting when she was diagnosed she found no literature or any support other than from her family. 

"These women are standing up to what was meant to destroy and depress them and are turning it into positive productive energy so that the next woman who loses her 'crown and glory' won't fall victim to what society deems as 'normal.' " 

Two of the women explained their own feelings about living with alopecia to the News Journal via e-mail."I feel honored to have contributed to a book that may inspire and help all who are lucky enough to come across it," Jenn Pendergrast said. "I am totally bald and have finally accepted it." 

A Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident, she was diagnosed in March 2006. 

She said the book provided a kind of therapy for her. 

"It was actually the first time I put my story into words and I cried the entire time I was writing," Pendergrast, 31, said. "When I was done writing, I felt so good. It felt awesome to put all that had happened into words for others to read."

Finish Article Here:

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902090303

Last summer, the Brotherhood raised money doing "headshaves & hair cuts for cancer" during "Take Me Out to the Bald Game" with the St. Paul Saints. The donation was sent to "Children's Cancer Research Fund". We are proud to sponsor an organization that helps families like this one:

Last night on Nightline, Robin Roberts from Good Morning America discussed her breast cancer journey. She specifically addressed the difficulty of losing her hair as a side effect of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Medical hair loss can be devastating, but she has a message: "We are not our hair."

I found a video of this interview on the ABC News website. This link will take you to the page where the video is listed.

http://abcnews.go.com/search?searchtext=robin%20roberts&type=

We are an organization devoted to all bald people and bald causes around the world. One of the bald causes very near and dear to the Brotherhood is cancer. There are many people suffering medical hair loss as a side effect of cancer treatments. Our Brotherhood member, Mae ("Sweetchesney"), is one of those people. Mae sent me us a link to this video today so we could see her with long, flowing red locks (lol), but more importantly, we wanted to make sure to post this video for our readers because we think it has an important message. September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Thanks Mae!

Julie Olson, Mission Coordinator

September is National Alopecia Areata Awareness Month. Take a minute to visit the National Alopecia Areata Foundation website for more information:

http://www.naaf.org/

Julie Olson, Mission Coordinator

After talking to a staff member at Minneapolis Children's Hospital today about our t-shirt donation program (donating t-shirts to children affected by hair loss & their families), I decided to look up a video clip that was recommended during our conversation. Here's a girl with half a head of hair and a whole lot of courage:

http://wcco.com/video/?id=42566@wcco.dayport.com

Julie Olson, Mission Coordinator

Submitted by Waliguy:

Julie Olson, Mission Coordinator

Here's more information:

There is a beautiful and brave new world for people living with hair loss and baldness.

It is called Alopecia World, and it is the first and only social networking site for hair loss 'sufferers,' their friends, and their loved ones.

Launched in March 2008, the site already has scores of members from around the world.

It is also feature-rich, fun, and fulfills the desire of countless alopecians for a beloved community to call their own.

Julie Olson, Mission Coordinator

This morning I found a great website devoted to supporting women with Alopecia Areata. You'll find a link to the website below this brief article from one of their blogs about attitude:

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

"Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror, and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

"Hmm," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today." So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror, and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.

"Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror, and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.

"Yah!" she exclaimed. "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.

Author Unknown

http://www.alopeciaandlove.com

Julie Olson, Mission Coordinator 

Just before the holidays, I was able to deliver our hairless princess t-shirts for the first time along with several other t-shirts to Minneapolis Children's Hospital. I just received a note from a staff member who works with the families:

"Dear Julie and BOB group,"

"On behalf of the amazing families dealing with childhood cancer, I wish to express my sincere graditude for your wonderful and creative t-shirts. Hairy humor in the midst of cancer treatment is so important. Thank you for bringing awareness that bald is beautiful."

Julie Olson, Mission Coordinator

I found this clip of a young girl speaking in front of a student body about her Alopecia.

Julie Olson, Mission Coordinator

Julie Olson, Mission Coordinator

Ladies, I found another great website:

BBiBBy is praising the beauty of women, and WOMEN who struggle with self LOVE, inner PEACE, self ACCEPTANCE and lack of self-ESTEEM.

BBiBBy is also glorifying the beauty of bald women! Women who may have Alopecia (an auto-immune deficiency) and those going through treatment due to Cancer. Don't hide anymore!

Click Here to Go to BbiBBy's Website   She's got a terrific MySpace page too!

Julie Olson, Mission Coordinator

I found a great website for women. Read more about the founder, Sharon Blynn. Here's an excerpt and link: 

A fresh-off-the-boat ovarian cancer survivor, I decided that when I finished with my long and winding road of a health journey, I would use my experience and the healing choices that I made for myself to help others learn to flip the script on this beeyotch (sorry), and tap into their inner resources of self-love, self-empowerment, and positive energy to heal themselves in mind, body, and spirit. So Bald Is Beautiful was born.

http://baldisbeautiful.org/about.html