Heidy Munoz, a hair stylist at Gloria’s Hidden Beauty Salon in Nyssa, braids hair at the event. (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
ONTARIO – The Desert Sage Event Center turned into a hair salon for about seven hours Sunday, Aug. 18. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade came through for free haircuts from a dozen Treasure Valley barbers and hair stylists who volunteered their time at the second annual Every Child Deserves to Look and Feel Good Event.
Chastity McAvoy, migrant program coordinator at the Payette School District, was looking for a way to lighten the load on parents last year before the start of the school year. McAvoy reached out to VM Barber, a Payette barbershop and hair salon owned by Veronica and Jose Mejia. The Mejias, too, had been thinking of a way to give back.
Last year’s event had four volunteers cutting hair. This year the number swelled to 12. By 9:30 a.m. Sunday, they were snipping away.
“School supplies and buying clothes gets spendy,” said Ana Esquivel, parent liaison for the migrant program in Payette and advisor of the Future Hispanic Leaders of America Club. “This is so that parents have one less expense.”
Rob Ramirez owns Handsome Rob the Barber in Fruitland. He’s been cutting hair for nearly 20 years. “I used to always get messed up haircuts from my brothers,” he said of his reason to volunteer. “Everybody deserves to be fresh for school.” (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
Veronica Mejia is co-owner at VM Barber in Payette. Last year her business helped launch the annual Every Child Deserves to Look and Feel Good Event. (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
Veronica Mejia gives a boy a gravity-defying haircut. (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
A dozen barbers and stylists from the Treasure Valley volunteered to give students free haircuts at the 2nd annual Every Child Deserves to Look and Feel Good Event (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
Malia Wallace cuts hair at VM Barber. She’s been cutting hair for five years. (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
A dozen barbers and stylists from the Treasure Valley volunteered to give students free haircuts at the 2nd annual Every Child Deserves to Look and Feel Good Event (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
Kent Burns cuts hair at Broken Halo Barber in Payette. (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
Hundreds of students received free haircuts at the 2nd annual Every Child Deserves to Look and Feel Good Event (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
Anthony Dovalina cuts a student’s hair at the 2nd annual Every Child Deserves to Look and Feel Good Event (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
Jose Mejia, Stephanie Elorza and Cristian Elorza handed out free hot dogs and drinks at the 2nd annual Every Child Deserves to Look and Feel Good Event (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
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