As the saying goes, a company that goes bald together, achieves incredible things and success together, Ellen's Good News reported.
On Monday, $2.1 million was raised by 428 people at Granite Telecommunications in Quincy, MA who shaved their heads in the lobby of their corporate headquarters in support of cancer research.
It all began when one of CEO Rob Hale's employees, who sported a ZZ Top-style beard, was jokingly dared to take it off for charity. However, the idea quickly turned into something far beyond his expectations.
"I told him, we'll give $10,000 if you'll shave it, and he agreed to do it," Hale tells the Good News Blog. "The next day, one of our teammates said his family had been affected by cancer, and he would be willing to shave his head for $1,000."
Following the offer, Hale sent an email around saying that he'd donate money for anyone who agreed to follow suit.
According to Ellen's Good News, "When the number of people involved neared 100, Hale said he would double that amount, making it $2,000 a head. When it neared 300, Hale's mother got involved, agreeing to match the initial pitch and bringing the stakes to $3,000 a head. When close to 400 employees were ready to be sheared, Hale set the bounty at $5,000 a head."
The total reached over $2 million in no time at all.
"In a few weeks, it went from a whimsical comment to a galvanizing moment," Hale remarked. "It makes a powerful statement about our company, and it makes a powerful statement about cancer."
At the cutting ceremony on Monday, nearly two-thirds of the male employees at Granite Communications and 20 women, who either went bald or put their coifs toward Locks for Love, participated.
As music played in the background, eighteen local barbers donated their time, lining up chairs in the lobby of the office and trimming away. There were also gift bags for everybody and a mural to be signed, Ellen's Good News reported.
"It speaks to a team that's caring compassionate, bold, energetic; I hope we are all those things and I think we showed that Monday," Hale said. "The other truth, cancer affects everybody... nearly everybody who was doing was doing it support or to memorialize someone who has fought or is fighting cancer."
That includes Hale, who lost his father to pancreatic cancer six years ago. All the money raised will be donated to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a hospital which helped Hale's father survive more than 18 months after his diagnosis.
"It was a really an electric couple of hours," Hale said.
