Athletes will shave heads for fundraiser

The Edison Chargers train together, travel together and play together. But on Saturday, they’ll be going to the hairdresser together — for one of their own.

Junior lineman Luke Gane, 15, has begun chemotherapy and will undergo a bone marrow transplant next week to treat aplastic anemia. To raise money for the procedure, all his teammates will shave their heads Saturday at a fundraiser they call “Locks for Luke.”

To help, attendees are asked to donate $20 to sponsor the teens who go under the clippers.

Aplastic anemia is a condition in which the bone marrow fails to make enough blood cells to replace those that die, including the white blood cells that fight disease.

It won’t just be Edison players, said Nanette Zumwalt, mother of one of Gane’s close friends.

“We’ve got Edison football players, we’re contacting Pop Warner [youth football] teams,” she said. “We’ve kind of put out the challenge. I’m pretty sure there’s going to be hundreds of kids coming to shave their head.”

In addition, those with long hair who participate will have their hair donated to the charity Locks of Love, which makes hairpieces for children affected by hair loss, Zumwalt said.

The event starts at 7 a.m. at DG Salon, 22015 Bushard St.

For more information on Gane, go to lukegane.blogspot.com, a blog on his condition maintained by his family.