Cutting for kids at Christmas
Published 10:28 pm Monday, November 17, 2014
Local barber Herbert “Big Herb” Smith hopes to brighten the lives of as many needy Suffolk children as he can this Christmas.
At Professional Touch Barber Shop in the Farm Fresh shopping center this Saturday, the first Community Day and Toy Drive will include a host of activities for adults and children.
At Professional Touch Barber Shop on North Main Street, Herbert “Big Herb” Smith tends to Donald Lewis, a Delaware truck driver passing through Suffolk on Monday. Smith will host a toy drive and community day at his business this Saturday.
The event’s main aim will be to collect toys for the Salvation Army in Suffolk, to be distributed to local children who otherwise might go without a gift this Christmas, via the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys For Tots program.
“I feel that every child needs to be shown love,” said Smith, a Suffolk barber for 27 years.
“There’s a lot of underprivileged children, and we’re partnering with the Salvation Army to provide children in Suffolk with at least a toy for Christmas.”
The event will also raise awareness about diabetes and high blood pressure, Smith said. Free health screenings by Sentara will be available during the event, set to run between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Suffolk Fire and Rescue will offer information on avoiding house fires over the winter.
“We’ll also have face painting for the children, Christmas-ornament decorating and kids’ bingo,” Smith said.
Folks can purchase $2 raffle tickets to win two months worth of free haircuts.
The first two recipients — a male and a female — of a scholarship in memory of Keisha Roberts, a guidance counselor at Lakeland High School who died this year, will be named, Smith said.
The community event will also see an impressive gathering of celebrity barbers.
Besides Smith and fellow Professional Touch barber Darek Eley, set to attend are Denny Moe and Denny Moe Jr. of Denny Moe’s Superstar Barbershop in Harlem, N.Y.; Nestor of The Barber Factory in The Bronx, N.Y.; L the Barber from Lehigh Valley, Pa.; Jamaal, a master barber educator from Atlanta, Ga.; and Jay-R of Suffolk’s Klassy Kutz.
They’ll be giving $10 haircuts all day.
“I do a lot of traveling to different barbershop events,” Smith said. “We support each other, changing lives one heart at a time.”
Smith appealed to folks to support the event by bringing along a toy for a needy local child.
“It’s for a great cause,” he said.
Smith said he plans to host Cutting for a Cure, a 24-hour haircutting marathon raising health awareness, next year.
Other supporters of Saturday’s event include S.L. Nusbaum Realty, Noble Care, Suffolk Police Department and Doughboy.
Local attorney Frank Rawls, chairman of the Suffolk News-Herald’s Cheer Fund, which also raises money to purchase toys for Toys For Tots, said the program has a large impact on the community.
“The Toys For Tots program provides a nicer Christmas to children who otherwise might not receive a toy, or as nice a toy,” Rawls said.
To donate to the Cheer Fund, send a check to P.O. Box 1220, Suffolk, VA 23439 or bring it to our office, 130 S. Saratoga St., from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
We will list your donation in the newspaper, but it can be marked “anonymous” if you like. Donations may be made in honor of or in memory of someone. If you bring the check to our office, we’ll even take your picture as you hand it to one of our staff.
For more information on the Cheer Fund, call 934-9616.
