The Norwich Police Department 2023 St. Baldrick's team. Team Norwich PD will return to this year's event on Saturday, March 16 at the Canasawacta Country Club, along with eight other teams and a total of 38 shavees. (Photo by Dustin Genter of 5th Dimension Photography)

NORWICH — The Norwich St. Baldrick's annual fundraising event returns this Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m. at the Canasawacta Country Club, located at 261 County Road 44 in Norwich.

The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a global organization that aims to support research into treatments for childhood cancer. In 2023, the organization raised $23,028,376.

This year, the St. Baldrick's Foundation is celebrating its 25th year of fighting childhood cancer, and the Norwich chapter of the organization is celebrating with another in-person head shaving event. So far, the local event has 38 shavees and nine teams signed up, as well as several event support volunteers and fundraisers.

This year's fundraising goal is set at $50,000, and so far the Norwich fundraiser has gathered $34,337 in donations.

"A couple years ago we hit $50,000 even though our goal was only $30,000. So we’ve tried to extend that goal out and make it bigger than it has been," said Norwich St. Baldrick's Committee Member Zachary Wentworth.

"Part of that is we have a lot of great shavees, people who are doing this every year. But every year we have people that come and do the event that had their own personal stories and their own personal reasons for why they’re here," he continued. "It's the people that come in and have their own personal stories as to why they’re here that really kind of helps make a difference."