Here’s a story that makes me think one day… perhaps… my own children will still get on with each other.
Meet Sharod Gandy. He plays basketball up in New Jersey… All-Bergen County for Englewood, which means he’s pretty good.
Now meet Ariel Williams. She’s seven. She’s Sharod’s little sister. And she’s got alopecia.
“She ignores it. She takes it pretty good for a little kid,” Gandy said. “Most little kids would see it and start crying and stuff. But she’s taking it. She doesn’t cry anymore. She used to. But not anymore.
Big brother’s going one step further. He’s organized a fund-raiser at his …read more

The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report had a small item of interest recently. (Go here and scroll all the way to the bottom.) A charity walk/run is being organized by father daughter team Brian and Abby Ter Haar. Abby is in the eighth grade, runs cross-country and has alopecia areata. Abby was diagnosed seven years ago, and her parents have helped raise more than $200,000 for the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. In their words: “As parents, we find ourselves challenged daily with helping our child maintain her dignity and self-confidence. While we cannot grow hair for Abby, we can raise …read more

Young Charlie Villanueva, the Inaugural Bald Man of the Week and Official Favorite NBA Player of Baldiness.com, is settling into his new digs. The Gary D’Amato of the Mercury News has done a real nice write up on on him.
The players who can make transitions, who can adapt to different teammates and environments and situations, are usually successful.
Charlie Villanueva knows all about transitions. He grew seven inches between his freshman and sophomore years in high school. He left Queens in New York City to attend $35,000-a-year Blair Academy, a prep school in Blairstown, N.J. He played two years for Jim …read more

More accolades for this week’s Bald Man of the Week. From NBA.com:
In recognition of Charlie Villanueva’s outstanding efforts in the community, and for his on-going philanthropic work, the NBA announced today it will honor the Toronto Raptors forward with the Community Assist Award for the month of February.
Villanueva has embraced his condition and acts as a role model for many people, accepting and embracing his differences and encouraging others to do the same. He was named the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) spokesperson in July 2005 and has been working with the organization since early 2004. As part of his …read more

Let’s continue with basketball, but switch to the pros. The Baldiness Bald Man of the Week is Charlie Villaneuva.

Charlie is rookie forward for the NBA Toronto Raptors and has been living with alopecia areata since childhood and works with the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. Here’s a great little write up in the Toronto Star:
What the 21-year-old Villanueva has done is become a walking poster boy for the fight against alopecia areata, a disease many suffer from but few know about. He spends an inordinate amount of time delivering his message to kids who suffer from the disease, making sure they …read more