Local mom going bald…again to help raise cancer research money

The Cairo mother of a young cancer survivor is on her way to Kansas City to shave her head with 45 other Moms whose lives have been shaken by childhood cancer.
This is the third time that Karen Singletary has taken part in the St. Baldrick’s 46 Mommas Shave for the Brave event.
“I am ready to be bald again! It doesn’t bother me at all,” Singletary proclaims.
Singletary says she is proud to participate in honor of her 13-year-old son, Zach, who was 5 when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2006.
Today, Zach is a rising 7th grader at Brookwood School, and for the last eight years has had no evidence of disease.
Zach’s mother says she wants to continue to bring awareness to childhood cancer and raise money for research, “I keep seeing more and more kids who seem to be diagnosed and more and more have to go through relapsing and struggling more. And, even though, yes, the overall percentage is good there are so many cancers they don’t have treatment plans for or don’t know how to treat. So many kids are losing their lives and shouldn’t.”
Singletary contends that in the last 30 years there have only been two new drugs introduced to treat childhood cancer.
Singletary and the other mothers will shave their heads in an act of solidarity and to raise money and awareness.
The event takes place at the Kansas City Power and Light District in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday.
Singletary first participated in 46 Mommas Shave for the Brave in 2011 at a separate event at Brookwood School in Thomasville, then in 2013, she traveled to San Antonio, Texas to participate in person with the other mothers.
Along for the trip are her husband, Tim, and their children Zach and Levi, 12.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer-powered charity that funds research to find cures for childhood cancers.