Local CEO goes bald - for a cause

Bouchard Insurance CEO Doug Bishop has something in common with Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Maddon: Both have shaved their heads in support of cancer research.

Bishop's shave took place April 10, part of the Tampa Bay Cut For a Cure Charity Challenge. Bishop, joined in head-shave with his 9-year-old son, Nate Bishop, designated the funds raised from the shave to the Vinny Lecavalier Foundation. Lecavalier is a center for the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, and a longtime supporter of local children's charities.

“I love the concept,” Bishop, based in Clearwater, tells Coffee Talk. “It was a great experience, for a great cause.”

Cut for a Cure had raised $389,362 through April 23. More than 70 players, coaches and staffers with the Rays, including Maddon and owner Stuart Sternberg, shaved their heads for the cause during spring training. Other local executives who have had their heads shaved for the cause include Tommy Sudderth, with battery distribution firm Safe-Start; St. Petersburg entrepreneur Mark Sembler, whose family runs a prominent local development firm; and Gary Harrod and Chad Harrod, father and son with Harrod Properties, a Tampa-based commercial real estate firm.

Bishop says one of the most touching parts of the experience, past the donations, is cancer patients from All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg were the ones who did the actual shaving. Says Bishop: “I'm looking forward to doing it again next year.”

For more information on Cut for a Cure visit fastercure.org.