HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Getting ready to send your kids back to school can be stressful, and two businesses in the Tennessee Valley are helping out the best way they can by giving out free hairstyles.
Lashun Sales is the owner of Cuttin-m-up, one of the Black-owned businesses that's making sure students in the Tennessee Valley have more than just pens and paper this year.
During the free "Fresh to School" event, kids in grades 6-12 could reserve their spot online and show up for a free hairstyle. Sales said, "I try to tell people, you know, you’ve got to give some in order to get some. And that’s the goal. It’s about the kids, it’s not about us. This whole event is just about the kids.”
Charles Frye, president of Huntsville CNI Solutions, one of the event sponsors, says he remembers how important it was to look nice on the first day of school. "Well, you know, growing up in the underserved communities myself, it meant a lot to be able to at least get my hair cut when I was going back to school. We came up with doing something for the children whereas we can help with hairstyles because a lot of times your hair makes who you are.”
Students could choose between 10 different styles, and boys with locs could get them retwisted as well. How did this happen? Sales explained, "Everybody came together for an event and you’ve got the braiders in here that were willing, on their day off, to give their free time.”
Sales said she loves seeing the kids walk out with confidence. Thirteen stylists devoted their Sunday to putting smiles on kids' faces. Jakayla Frye was one of the students who got a new style. She said, "I feel great. I feel like it’s important because it kind of helps boost your confidence.”
Her mom, Brittany Frye, said this event saved her a lot of time. “It helps me out a lot because I’m usually scrambling a couple days before school trying to figure out what hairstyles and who’s going to do hair.”
This is all part of a bigger effort to lift some of the stress off parents' shoulders.