by SC Reporter Reese Holiday
Sanibel Police Chief Bill Dalton had his head shaved by a young cancer survivor in September in order to raise money for child cancer treatment.
The fundraiser, called Clips for Cancer, is a part of Barbra’s Friends, which has been raising money for kids with cancer at the Golisano Children’s Hospital in Fort Myers for 25 years.
Community members throughout Lee County get involved by agreeing to a head shave from a young cancer survivor, which raises awareness for the cause. This year, there were 33 community participants who got their new haircuts from 25 cancer survivors.
Dalton, who is new to the fundraiser, said he became aware of Clips for Cancer through a local paper and wanted to get involved.
“I just thought maybe if this could help out, it would be certainly something worth doing,” Dalton said.
Despite this being Dalton’s first year involved in the fundraiser, his familiarity with cancer is not new. Earlier this year, Dalton lost his brother to a battle with cancer, and both his sister and mother are survivors. With this, Dalton decided to raise awareness for the fight against cancer by sporting a new look.
The cancer survivor who gave Dalton his new look is a young man named Matthew Singleton. Singleton was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of two and received three-and-a-half years of treatment at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida.
Now, Singleton is a survivor and was able to be a part of a fundraiser that saw over $170,000 come in from people who were inspired by his and other survivors’ stories.
Although this year’s Clips for Cancer was a success, the battle against cancer is not over. Children are diagnosed with cancer every year as the race to find a cure continues, but Dalton has a message for anyone that is involved in the battle.
“Just keep fighting.”
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