18-02-2025
St. Baldrick's Kitty Hoynes fundraiser saying farewell after 20 years
(WSYR-TV) — Since 2005, the St. Baldrick's Foundation has called Kitty Hoynes their fundraising home in Central New York. After 20 years, this will be the final event at the Irish Pub in downtown Syracuse. But, don't fret. There are big plans for St. Baldrick's here CNY after this send-off at Kitty Meskos, communications coordinator, and Sue Klein, fundraiser participant, joined us this morning to talk about the big 20-year finale, and what the future will look like for the organization.
St. Baldrick's is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to find a cure for childhood cancers.
David and Cindy Hoyne, owners of Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub, were instrumental in bringing fundraising to Central New York in the spring of 2005. After significant success locally, it became the conduit for so many organizations to launch their own events all over the region.
Sue Klein decided to participate in the fundraising event after her granddaughter was diagnosed with leukemia at age 6 and a half. After two and a half years of making it through cancer treatment, Sue says she was one of the lucky ones. Now, her granddaughter is 32 years old with a child of her own. Though the doctors can't use the word 'cured,' they do say that there is no evidence of disease in her anymore.
Sue also shared that she didn't think much of getting her head shaved until right before it was about to happen. She says she was nervous about how she'd look, but she figured that if these kids can do it, so can she.
'You do whatever you can to give back so that there's hope for other children,' Sue said.
Over 19 years, the event has raised over $6.7 million dollars and shaved close to 7,500 heads. This topped the worldwide fundraising charts for several of those years, including a four-year span from 2016 through 2019, delivering a half a million dollars or more each year.
Sophie Meskos says that after this annual event is over, the foundation will focus on reuniting some of the survivors who have been involved with the foundation here in Central New York since the beginning.
'These kids that went through this as young children have grown up and are putting their best foot forward to continue the fight,' says Sophie.
The 20th annual St. Baldrick's Day Fundraiser for childhood cancer research will take place on Sunday March 30 at Kitty Hoynes in Armory Square.
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