Clip, clip. How a haircut benefits charities
Print Edition
GETTING a haircut is usually a straightforward occasion. In the chair. Snip, snip, snip. And off you go feeling well groomed.
A group of Taiwanese hairdressers calling themselves “the Walkers” are adding a charitable twist to the common haircut.
It’s a trend they started in Taiwan, and one of the groups has come to introduce the idea to Shanghai. The concept is simple: You get a haircut at a music festival or some other venue and pay whatever you want. The money is donated to a charity chosen by the event organizer.
One of the five, Li Ruizhi, moved to the city last year to see if he could repeat the success story.
“Charity haircuts were popular on the recent Coffee Festival,” said Li. “I was so busy that I could hardly find time to go to toilet.”
The group coalesced five years ago in Taiwan when they put two chairs on the street and offered free haircuts. Police shooed them away.
So they changed tactics. They attended music festivals and went to markets, by invitation, and let the organizers donate the income to charity.
“We were all born in the 1980s,” said Li. “We love getting around but were tied down by our jobs. Being a hairdresser means you are the busiest on weekends.”
The five founders worked in high-end salons, as stylists for the Golden Horse Film Festival and for movie production companies. While those jobs let them hobnob with celebrities, Li said they felt something was missing from their lives. So they quit.
“We see ourselves as craftsmen and artists,” said Li. “What we want to have is to build connection with people, not treat them as customers and take their money. But, unfortunately, our jobs didn’t allow that.”
For them, word “charity” doesn’t necessarily mean donating large sums of money to good causes or doing volunteer work in nursing homes. Rather, it means giving back to society within one’s capabilities.
“Just treating people nicely is a good deed,” said Li. “Most people who come to us for haircuts share part of their lives and problems with us. It helps them relieve stress.”
He added: “Many immigrant workers came to Taipei, just like Shanghai, to make a better life. Where do they go after work? A rented house. We thought about giving them a place to go to relax and socialize.”
So they created a combination of salon, café and art gallery. They started with some chairs and mirrors and collected second-hand furniture to fill it.
“We played films in the basement and also invited musicians and DJs sometimes,” Li said. “I’m hoping to create the same kind of space in Shanghai.”
The hairdressers donated two weekends of income every month, plus the income they collected at music festivals, to the project.
“Before joining the Walkers, I was working 15 hours a day, and my hands looked like shriveled-up old prunes,” said Wang Kuan. “Work was eroding my love for hairdressing until I joined the Walkers and realized what I could accomplish.”
Li explained, “We went to orphanages in the beginning, but because we were only occasional visitors, it wasn’t helping much.”
The Walkers also decided against giving free haircuts to homeless people because they feared it looked too much like a publicity stunt. They finally settled on the idea of donating hair-cutting income to charities.
“I guess sharing and living a fun life are more important than earning big money or driving fancy cars for all of us,” said Li. “That’s what bonds us together.”
As the only one of the group who hadn’t settled down, Li decided to move to Shanghai and expand the charity work to the mainland.
The winds of charity are blowing through the beauty business. A group of barbers, stylists and salons has joined forces with Shanghai Children’s Hospital last year. Salons were set up where customers can donate the cost of hairstyling to children with leukemia. The majority of donors have been students.
“If we can influence people, especially the younger generation, and inspire them to think about what they can do to make a better society, then we are successful,” said Li.
“I believe the trend will be even bigger here than in Taiwan.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
