Since it’s inception in 2003, the Hair for Hope outreach event by the Children’s Cancer Foundation has helped raise public awareness on childhood cancer with a record-breaking SGD4.326 million (RM13.016 million) collected in donations in 2018.
By volunteering to shave their heads, shavees help raise public awareness of the ordeals a child cancer patient is subjected to while garnering support in the form of donations.
Well, one prominent individual who made headlines recently for shaving his own head is none other than Grab CEO Anthony Tan, who raised a record sum of SGD202,010 (RM607,817.00). In comparison, the second-highest individual shavee for 2019 managed to raise SGD60,400.00 (RM181,743.00).
A Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF) spokesperson said that the previous record was SGD361,151.00 (RM361,151.00) which was raised in 2011.
In a LinkedIn post, Tan explained that the cause was deeply personal as his mother-in-law was a cancer patient and his wife, Chloe, vividly remembers how her mother was affected when she lost her hair.
“I am a soon-to-be father of three, and I can’t imagine the grief that these children and their families go through when they receive the diagnosis and start cancer treatment,” Tan said in the post. We hear you!
Notably, this is also Grab Singapore’s first Hair for Hope campaign, which started when a few Grabbers wanted to show their support for the initiative. Grab now has a total of 107 participants.
“This includes 40 driver-partners, who spent 10 minutes shaving and then went straight back to picking up passengers!” – Tan explained.
Grab Singapore has raised SGD329,613.67 (RM992,317.96) in total to date. Wow, kudos to everyone at Grab!
We truly commend Anthony Tan and everyone at Grab for taking part in this amazing initiative. We hope this inspires other corporate entities and individuals alike to stand in solidarity with cancer-stricken children.
More information on the Hair for Hope initiative and ways you can help can be found here.
Read more: UMS Lecturer Shaves Head to Support Student With Stage 3 Cancer Who Lost Her Hair in Treatment