On Monday (Dec. 12), students from the Riverside College hairstylist program provided salon services to the public free of charge to collect donations for Mission Community Services’ Christmas Bureau with their annual ‘Salon-A-Thon’.
The aspiring hairstylists provided services such as free haircuts, shampoo, and scalp massages for a donation of toys, gift cards and non-perishable food donations.
“The students wanted to do a gift exchange but we decided that it would be better to give back to the community,” hairstylist teacher Krista Balogh said. “It’s just gotten bigger over the years.”
The hairstylist program has been doing the ‘Salon-A-Thon’ for a decade now, with between 50 and 100 people coming out to support the cause each year. The event met expectations once again on Monday with upwards of 70 people coming through to donate approximately 40 bags of food, 28 toys and multiple gift cards to the Christmas Bureau.
“It’s good for students to get their hands into some hair and experience having this many clients,” Balogh said. “It’s also really good for the clients to come in and see what Riverside does.”
The Riverside hairstylist program is also involved in the Mission community throughout the year. Students provide free haircuts for organizations like Mission Community Services, Triangle Community Resources, SARA For Women, Mission Youth House and Mission Mental Health.
“We have a policy that if anyone is in need of a haircut or hairstyle, we do that,” Balogh said. “It’s really rewarding for the students to be able to interact with [people] who are a little bit down on their luck and see how much of a difference they can make just by cutting someone’s hair.”
The program runs for 46 weeks from September through to July and currently has 14 students participating. The salon offers retail services throughout the year on Mondays and Thursdays from 1:00-5:30 p.m., with a variety of salon services available at discounted prices.
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dillon.white@missioncityrecord.com
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