Marty Brennaman kisses one of the kids from the Dragonfly Foundation, August 3, 2012; The Enquirer / Jeff Swinger
As you are most likely aware, Marty Brennaman shaved his head Friday night for part of his bet that the Reds wouldn’t win 10 games in a row this season. But he turned what could have been an internal, clubhouse spectacle into a large charity event.
One of the charities was the Dragonfly Foundation.
The Dragonfly Foundation provides distractions from the psychological, emotional, physical and financial toll of cancer and blood diseases. We also work to establish connections at a time when patients, siblings and caregivers feel the most alone and isolated. Through our efforts, numerous Dragonflies have been distracted from the physical and emotional pain of treatment, as well as the post-traumatic stress associated with the diagnosis of a serious illness.
The Enquirer published a an article that includes more details about the Foundation, and their hopes to expand to Dayton and Indianapolis hospitals. It’s a great story about how the whole thing came together; much of that part of the event was ad-libbed and unknown to the organization’s volunteers.
[John] Burns can’t remember exactly how Brennaman’s hair-shaving came up, but he said a girl mentioned that the broadcaster would soon look like her and the other patients. Burns mentioned the conversation to Brennaman and asked if he’d wear a Dragonfly shirt to give the foundation some attention. Brennaman agreed.
He didn’t think Brennaman would say anything about the shirt or the group. But Davidson had put some information about Dragonfly in a bag of the T-shirts.
They didn’t know whether he was going to wear their shirt or that he would say anything about their organization. So, when he was on the field and getting shaved in his Reds jersey, they had no idea that he had their t-shirt on underneath.
“It was a Clark Kent moment. As much as he was beloved before, he became Superman to us.â€Â
At 16:20 in the video, Brennaman is done getting shaved, and his first course of action was to take off his jersey. The emotional, heartfelt reaction was shared on the Foundation’s blog:
In case you missed it, Marty Brennaman shaved his head last night to fulfill a promise. The event, along with Marty’s 70th birthday, was celebrated last night at the Reds Stadium! At the end of the event, Marty took his Reds jersey off to reveal The Dragonfly Foundation’s I’m Still Me shirt!!!!! (WE STARTED CRYING!!!) Then our kids ran over to him and hugged him on their own accord!!!!! (WE STARTED SOBBING!!!) The crowd went wild when he explained how one of our Dragonflies said that now Marty will look like them.
The entire event, including the all the aforementioned charitable activities, was broadcast live on the Reds post-game show and can be found in the embedded video. He gets out of his chair and reveals his t-shirt at the 16:20 mark.
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