Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — It is no secret that cancer is a long and hard battle, and will leave an indelible impression on the patient and everyone close to that person.
Actress Maxene Magalona and blogger-singer Saab Magalona-Bacarro are no strangers to the suffering cancer can bring after losing their own father, Filipino hip-hop icon Francis Magalona, to the disease in 2009.
The two sisters have since made the fight against cancer their advocacy and have been working to help children who are stricken with the ailment.
“It is very close to our hearts, because we lost our dad to cancer and we know how it feels like,” said Maxene.
According to the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, reports from the Philippine Children’s Medical Center state that an average of 3,500 Filipino children suffer from cancer each year, with only 2,500 of them being diagnosed.
“Just imagining how hard it would be like for all those families, it breaks our hearts,” added Maxene.
The two sisters are helping spearhead the “8-Inch Cut for Cancer” cause which aims to help uplift 1,000 children battling the disease by donating medical hair wigs. The goal is to bring people together to donate at least eight inches of hair, which is the minimum to make a wig.
According to the sisters, they want to give children who lost their hair through chemotherapy a boost.
“Kids are different from adults,” said Maxene. “Adults, they know that they are sick and they understand, kids find it even more difficult to accept.”
For Saab and Maxene, the effort is about giving the kids back a little bit of what they lost during their treatment.
“So they can feel like themselves again,” said Saab. “It’s a really big part of beating the disease.”
The “8-Inch Cut for Cancer” will take place on Saturday (September 19) at the Mega Atrium at SM Megamall.
