SPOKANE, Wash. — The Yard Barber Shop in Hillyard gave free haircuts to school-aged children on Monday.
The shop is typically closed on Monday’s, but it opened to help children as they prepare to go back to school. It is the shop’s second year of doing free haircuts.
Owner Cliff Nikell said only about five or six people showed up last year. But Monday, even before the shop was open, people were already lining up at the door. Parents sat around the shop waiting for their children to sit in one of the swivel chairs.
Nikell said he and one of his barbers got the idea to start the free haircuts because they understand what it’s like growing up in low-income households and not being able to get professional haircuts.
“We couldn’t afford haircuts, so I always used to like to get them. My mom would always give me bowl cuts or something, but it wasn’t quite the same,” Nikell said.
So now they he wants to help children who are currently in the same situation.
“We’re just trying to give back any way we can,” he said.
Richard Ragains traveled to Hillyard from Chattaroy so his sons could get free haircuts.
For one of Ragains’s sons, it’s a special day. It’s his first professional haircut.
Ragain’s said the financial strain of preparing his children to go back to school can be stressful. But this year, The Yard made the process a little easier.
“It’s great, especially (since we’re) spending all the money on clothes and school supplies, that they’re doing the free haircuts,” he said.
This isn’t the first time The Yard has done free haircuts. Nikell said once a year they also give them to children with autism.
He said the shop is giving all the donations it received from Monday’s haircuts to a local community center.
The Yard will have more free haircuts for children on September 3 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The shop is located at 5303 Market Street.