Sometimes a haircut is more than just that: It can be a form of therapy, a brief escape from the stress of real life, or a much-needed confidence boost.
Just ask the group of Maricopa County barbers that spent a chilly morning on Feb. 16 cutting hair outside Nourish Phoenix, a community food and clothing bank along 9th Avenue, providing free haircuts for anyone in need.
Serving others at the event hit close to home for Emmanuel Morales, a barber at LifeLine Barbershop in Chandler. Morales said these kinds of events were helpful to him as a child.
“I get goosebumps,” Morales said. “I had a rough history where I was the person in the chair that was struggling.”
The event was organized by ClipDart, an on-demand barber service and mobile app that lets people request a barber to come to them.
Founder Kyle Parker, currently a professional basketball player in Germany, said the idea came to him when he was living in rural Iowa for college and had neither a car nor a barber within an hour of his school that specialized in Black men’s hair.
“If there’s a student like me out there… who just can’t feel like they can look their best and afford it — that I can touch their life, that’s the main thing that matters to me,” Parker said.
Nourish Phoenix Director Beth Fiorenza said it’s neither the first nor last time the organization will host a haircut event.
“It’s so needed right now,” she said. “All the barbers wanted to spread a little cheer, spread a little love, help people feel better, especially with the pandemic going on. It’s something we do every so often to give back to the community.”
Anyone who might benefit from a free haircut is encouraged to attend Clipdart and Nourish Phoenix’s next free haircut event on April 6 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., 501 South 9th Ave.
Contact the reporter at gdelia1@asu.edu.
