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BLACKSBURG – For the fifth straight fall, Virginia Tech baseball held its annual "Shave for the Brave" event as more than 60 players, coaches, staff members and friends and family of the Hokies had their heads shaved to bring awareness and raise funds for childhood cancer research.

The event was held in association with the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which supports childhood cancer research, and the “46 Mommas Shave for the Brave” organization. Thanks mostly to funds donated through the Internet – on the team’s official donation page http://www.stbaldricks.org/events/mypage/9105/2014 – the program reached its targeted goal of $30,000 and it is still counting.

The page, as of Oct. 27, showed a sum of $30,170, but does not include any cash donations made that still need to be submitted. Those donations include some made the night of the game of which any made during the fifth inning was going to be matched by head baseball coach Patrick Mason.

“I got caught up in the moment of being able to reach our five-year contribution total of $100,000,” Mason said. “In the past five seasons, to raise that much money is a true testament to the student-athletes we have in our program.

“But we couldn’t have done this on our own. This year, we had Great Clips volunteer four barbers to help shave participants, Bull & Bones donate food to feed everyone and Fox 21/27’s Tara Wheeler, a former shavee herself, serve as a guest shaver.

“And reaching that goal is a cumulative effort that involves all the friends and families of our players and staff that donated to this great cause.”

The event is held in conjunction with the efforts put forth by Melina Brown, whose son Levi – an adopted member of the Tech baseball team – was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a highly malignant primary brain tumor, when he was four. Now 14, he is cancer free, but everyday 46 mothers in the United States are told their child has cancer, so the fight never ends.

Levi was honored on the field during the Hokies Fall World Series game, which was being played before and during the Shave event. He was also presented with a brand new pair of Nike sneakers, the same kind the Tech players wear.

Click on the right side of the page to see a photo gallery of the event or click here to see video of it. And for those still looking to support the cause, please click on the team’s donation page link above and then sponsor your favorite Hokie.

This was the eighth event of the 2014-15 academic year for 19 Ways - the baseball team's initiative to find 19 ways to make a difference in the community. For more information on the team’s 19 Ways program, please visit the Facebook page.

For updates on Virginia Tech baseball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Baseball