Ann Rosati Bald for Bucks Cancer Campaign

I’m going bald for bucks for my beautiful aunt Ann Rosati. Ann, who suffered from stage 4 small cell lung cancer that doctors diagnosed in September 2023, was an animal lover--especially a dog lover. No, I don’t mean she loved my uncle Tim, though that’s true (I'm just kidding; he's an amazing person). I mean she had a special connection with dogs. For one, she’s spent the past 40 years grooming them--and cats, which she also loved--with her mother, my grandma Joan Hussar, at their once family-owned shop, We Do It All Pet Grooming. If Ann wasn’t grooming dogs, she was showing them at competitions. Ann had a special fondness for dogs because they love you no matter what, and they’re loyal and strong. There must be something about dog lovers having the same traits as the animals they love so much, because if I had to describe my aunt in three words, I’d say she’s loving, loyal, and strong.

I said my aunt loved my uncle Tim, but she also loves her four children—Toni, Nick, Tim, and Joe—and her two grandchildren—Arrietta and little Timmy. She was the mom or grandma at every sporting event loudly cheering her kids or grandkids along. She’d drive to different cities and even states sometimes just to watch them compete and have fun. She was the woman with the milk jug full of quarters trying to distract the quarterback at the football game. Like the “Dog Pound” the Cleveland Browns have come to be known for, my aunt was all about that D-Fence.

Loyalty is a trait you see in animals but not necessarily in people – except for people like Ann. She was married to Tim for over 30 years, worked at the same grooming shop for longer, and was there for her children when they needed her more times than anyone can remember. When I was in between college and graduate school, I desperately needed a job but couldn’t find one. My aunt heard I was looking for work and invited me to work at the grooming shop with her and my grandmother. Me being there didn’t make them any additional money. I was taking money from their purses with my presence. Rather than complain, she’d brag to customers that I was going to graduate school. That’s who she was: she was always there for you.

Ann fought cancer like a dog for many years, and many without her even knowing. She fought and beat cancer in one of her lobes about 15 years ago. Since then, though, the cancer returned and wreaked havoc on her body. She began chemo for her most recent diagnosis in September 2023 and passed away Friday, April 19, 2024. In that time, though, her family watched her fight ferociously to give them more time with her. I’d even go so far as to say that she did it for them--and for all of us. She spent the majority of her time at Mercy Hospital and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. In that time, she lost her job and the family business, and has accrued seemingly endless medical bills, which will take several more months to compile from insurance. The overall cost of her treatment is easily in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Please help honor Ann Rosati—and all patients who’ve fought cancer like a dog for the ones they love—by donating to this bald for bucks campaign intended to help her family defray the costs of her extensive in-hospital care. I intend to cut my hair the day of the May 5th benefit being held for her, which I’ve attached a photo of here. Those interested in attending the benefit should reach out to Tim Rosati to purchase tickets. All funds will go directly to her immediate family. I'll also be donating the hair for a cancer patient in need. I’ll provide proof of the hair cutting (video or photos) and transfer of money. Please honor this amazing woman by donating so her family doesn’t struggle even more in what has been an incredibly difficult time in their lives. Thank you.