BONNY DIVER AND BARBARA COOLEY THAW. PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

On a private estate in Belle Acres, people will gather to fight cancer with jazz, rock, R&B and soul.

“I want to battle the beast,” growls Barbara Cooley Thaw, a breast cancer survivor who’s lived on the property since 1988.

The disease doesn’t stand a chance.

Thaw and her husband, Robert, raised two children at the beautiful homestead overlooking the hills of Sewickley. Now the empty nesters enjoy hosting charity events there. On May 31, Pittsburgh Divas will present Songs For Life, a benefit show for Hair Peace Charities. Tickets can be purchased for $40 online.

Sandra Green, Jeanie Shook, Miss Freddye, Stevee Wellons and Jessica Lee will perform on the lawn backed by All Star Band Cheryl Rinovato, Ronnie Biggs, Matt Muckle, John Gresh and Mark Strickland. Attendees are welcome to bring camp chairs, beverages and blankets (although Thaw could blanket all of Belle Acres with her impressive collection of quilts and coverings). The Farina Foundation will be onsite collecting used musical instruments for children. Who knows? Those young recipients could headline a future Songs For Life event concert someday!

Songs For Life emcees will be radio personalities Rob O’Friel and Bonny Diver. Diver founded Hair Peace Charities in 2005 and serves as its executive director. The nonprofit helps women and girls who are going through cancer treatment in Western Pennsylvania to purchase wigs. Most insurance companies don’t cover the cost, but Hair Peace provides $250 to each person.

Both Diver and Thaw, longtime friends, lost their locks during treatment.

“It was really important for me to have that memory, to have that person I was afraid I was going to lose,” Diver says. “It’s not a vanity thing; it disguises cancer.”

Hair Peace received a major donation during its annual Recipe For Hope fundraiser last August. Retired Allegheny Health Network breast surgeon and honorary board member Dr. Mary Beth Malay announced she will contribute $250,000 over the next decade to support the organization’s mission.

“This long-term gift is important to me because I strongly believe in what Bonny is doing for the
community and want to help her continue her good work,” Malay said. “I learned so much from my patients, who include Bonny, and I have been inspired by them. I also learned that hair is dignity and helping to defray the added cost of a wig but also assistance with the added stress and complexities of finding and choosing a wig greatly helps women and girls with cancer.”

I served as a judge during the friendly cooking competition, which was a delicious honor for this food editor who grew up in a family of hair stylists. (And, for the record, my esteemed colleague, local broadcast journalist Sheila Hyland, had a chocolate brownie trifle that stole the show! Stay tuned for more information on this year’s 20th anniversary fundraiser on Aug. 22. Hopefully, Hyland will be back with dessert.

In addition to financial assistance, Hair Peace provides emotional support. When a person reaches out to the charity, Diver is the one who picks up the phone.

She fielded 500 calls last year.

Diver dispenses information on everything from clinical trials and support group locations to folksy life hacks such as “Eat a pickle to combat the metal taste in your mouth after chemo!” Mostly, she listens to the frightened woman on the other end of the line — because she understands what they’re going through.

When she was 46, the avid equestrian fell off of her horse. During the subsequent emergency room visit, doctors discovered tumors in her breast. Now, after two decades of experience, she serves as a font of knowledge and a listening ear.

“Call and leave a message. I’ll call them back and have the conversation,” Diver says. “If they’re getting ready to lose their hair, they have decisions they have to make. Whatever they decide is the right decision because it is theirs. You need something you can control — the wig gives you an option.”

Songs For Hope is Saturday, May 31 from 5 to 8 p.m. at 174 Camp Meeting Road Ext. in Sewickley. For more information and tickets, call 412-327-5177. Donations to Hair Peace Charities can be made online.