Corey Haynes, a Falls Church resident currently serving in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua, plans to shave her head this December as part of a fundraiser organized by St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which funds childhood cancer research. Haynes, who is nearing her one-year anniversary in Nicaragua, and her teammate and friend Thomas have raised $300, six percent of their $6,000 goal.

“We’re shaving our heads to raise money for childhood cancer research! Did you know that kids’ cancers are different from adult cancers? It’s true,” Corey and Thomas said on the page for their fundraising efforts. “And childhood cancer research is extremely underfunded. So we decided to do something about it by raising money for cures.”

For Haynes, this effort is a little more personal, though. “I hope that by shaving my head in the Peace Corps, I can show Nicaraguan citizens and US citizens (and everyone around the world) that we are not defined by our hair or our outer appearances. We are all beautiful, hair or not,” she said. “My father died from lymphoma on December 2, 2005. By shaving my head on December 2, 2015, exactly 10 years after my family lost him, I hope we can celebrate not only his life, but other amazing people we have lost in the battle against cancer.”

For more information or to donate, visit stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/802599/2015 or call 1-888-899-2253.