Singapore – CEO of Grab Anthony Tan shaved his head full of hair and raised S$197,010 in donations for cancer-stricken children.
Hair for Hope is a signature outreach event by the Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF) and it the only head-shaving initiative in Singapore. It aims to raise funds and awareness of childhood cancer.
Hair for Hope 2019’s main event was held at VivoCity on July 27 to 28 and received 2,826 participants who donated their hair.
Overall, the 2019 campaign garnered more than 5,400 volunteers across its 52 satellite events.
More than S$4 million has been raised so far.
The CEO of Grab Anthony Tan began with a target to raise S$80,000. The amount more than doubled and closed at S$197,010 as of July 29.
The amount he raised broke the previous record of S$119,980 in 2011.
A CCF spokesperson mentioned that the donation of CEO of Grab Anthony Tan is the single-most amount raised by an individual since the campaign started in 2003.
“Because every child deserves to just be a child,” noted Tan in his campaign message.
“Thank you to all my friends, family, and business partners for messaging me with your support! As this website accepts only Singapore credit cards, folks based overseas can transfer your donation to Chloe or me, and I’ll make sure to donate it on your behalf. Ping us directly!”
Aside from the donations, Anthony Tan also shaved his head in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on July 11, during a company leadership retreat.
It is the first year that Grab Singapore participated in Hair for Hope’s campaign.
Around 40 driver-partners joined and welcomed 107 volunteers in total.
Grab was able to raise S$324,514 in donations so far.
The CEO of Grab Anthony Tan, who considers this advocacy close to his heart and personal life, shared that his mother-in-law was a cancer patient. His wife, Chloe, remembers how much losing her hair affected her.
“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. This is my small way of standing in support with them,” shared Anthony Tan in a recent LinkedIn post.
The CEO of Grab Anthony Tan added that Grab employees joined for various reasons, although many had close encounters with health scares in the past, which made their participation more personal.
Among others, Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of ride-hailing company Uber, donated S$10,000 while Masayoshi Son, founder of Japan’s SoftBank Group who invests in Grab, gave S$90,000.
Hair for Hope’s online donations close on September 30, 2019.
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