August 19, 2024 – Local barbers at Prolific Cuts and Kongo Barbershop gave back to Clovis by offering free haircuts on August 18th for kids going back to school. Scheduled the day before Clovis Unified School District went back for the new year, these barbershops cut the hair of hundreds of kids ensure they looked sharp for their first day.
On early Sunday morning as the sun barely touched Shaw Avenue at 7AM, Prolific Cuts awaited in eager anticipation for the crowd of families that would drop by that day for their haircut. They worked all the way until 4PM, thousands of hair strands being swept up as the hours passed by.
As this occurred, families took up every seat in the shop, patiently waiting for their turn in the barber’s chair. Many of them brought more than one child to get a haircut, looking forward to their kids looking sharp for that first day back to school.
One of those customers was Melissa Garcia, who brought her sons Ryan and Kolton to the shop. Being a full-time worker and mom of two kids, she expressed an appreciation for Prolific Cuts offering the back-to-school haircuts so her boys could look their best.
She explained, “It’s a huge thing [for the community] and expecting nothing out of it is amazing.”
Prolific Cuts owner Peda Thik opened up shop last year, right near the border of Clovis and Fresno. Growing up and not being able to get a nice haircut for the next school year, Thik wanted to ensure local families were more fortunate.
He added, “When people come in, we like to just make people feel great. When they come in, we greet them and make them feel welcome.”
Stephanie Sanchez, Thik’s fiancée, shared similar feelings about the shop. She stated, “It’s a very friendly environment … Some kids don’t like getting their hair cut, hearing the buzzer, but [the barbers are] patient with them and [the kids] enjoy their experience here.”
Over in a more northern part of Clovis, Kongo Barbershop saw a similar crowd of children awaiting their back-to-school haircut in a similar event.
Many families spent their time outside at the back of the building, enjoying pizza and sodas for lunch while also getting a bag of free school supplies to help families afford new supplies for the academic year.
The supplies were donated by local community members, as well as Kingdom on Earth Church and the Fresno Asian Business Institute.
The owner of the shop, Kong Xiong, explained his passion for giving back to the community through hosting events like these.
He said that the barbers he hires to work at the shop are people who share his same vision – people who enjoy giving back to the community and helping others through the work they are doing.
Xiong added, “They’re passionate about cutting hair, they’re passionate about kids, and they’re passionate about their career.”
These free haircuts for kids going back to school are not the only way by which Xiong gives back locally. He allows up-and-coming barbers trying to learn the trade to shadow him for free, something that usually comes with a cost, and teaches classes for others to learn how to cut hair.
He stated that “barbering,” the term for cutting hair in a barbershop, is a lifestyle, not just a living. “We do community work, we cut hair for a living. This is a lifestyle for us.”
The work of these barbershops can certainly be described as “community work,” as Xiong aptly stated.
If you know someone following this example of paying it forward, be sure to bring it to our attention at Clovis Roundup so that we can share their story.