Topeka nonprofit provides free back-to-school haircuts

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Back-to-school preparation can get pretty expensive. 'One Can One Kid,' a local nonprofit organization, and 'A Different Level Barber Shop & Salon' partnered to give students free haircuts ahead of the school year.

Andre Banks, Topeka native and founder of 'One Can One Kid,' said a fresh haircut is a back-to-school essential.

"It sets your year up for success when you feel good," Banks said. "We wanted to make sure some kids look the part, so they can feel good and start their year off right." 

This is the second year he and Wanda Collins, an employee at 'A Different Level Barber Shop & Salon' have partnered to provide free haircuts for students. On Saturday, 10 different students walked away with a fresh new look.

"We just wanted to give back to the community," Collins said. "And make sure the kids feel a little more comfortable about when they go back to school because some people can't afford cuts or they can't get in and get them, or anything like that.

Collins told 27 News that starting the school year with a new haircut can be difference maker for a student.

"If it looks good, then the kids feel really good when they go to school," Collins said. "They nine times out of 10, tend to do better if they feel like they look the part." 

Zamarion Caldwell, a seventh grader at Robinson Middle School, was one student who received a haircut on Saturday. He told told 27 News he felt that his new haircut would help him get straight A's.

"I feel good and ready to learn," Caldwell said.

Saturday may have been haircut day, but Banks hopes the kids were able to learn something too.

"I also want them to take away just random acts of kindness," Banks said. "If you do something nice for someone, it will come back to you later on down the line." 

He started 'One Can One Kid' seven years ago because, he said, kindness is free. His nonprofit is all about community support and looking out for others, even one haircut at a time.