The Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU) partnered with Ogden’s Ave Salon for a one-time event held on campus at the U to host Cuts for a Cause — an event created to benefit the Huntsman Cancer Institute and Make-a-Wish Utah.
The event, held on Nov. 14 at the Peterson Heritage Center, encouraged all students, faculty and university staff to stop by and donate five dollars in exchange for a professional haircut.
The idea of haircuts for charity was conceived by Kabi Catalano, the director of development for Make-a-Wish Utah, and Catalano’s hairdresser Mandie Barnes, a hair stylist at Ave Salon.
“The inspiration for the event came after I had heard of a previous charity event that Mandie had organized doing haircuts for the homeless,” said Catalano.
After their previous success in the Haircuts for the Homeless event, Ave Salon was eager to team up with Make-a-Wish for a similar event.
“After organizing Haircuts for the Homeless and seeing the turnout I was excited to try it again. I learned that people really take advantage of free haircuts and enjoy giving back too,” said Barnes.
ASUU has held a Cuts for a Cause event before, but never with four different organizations to help brainstorm, organize and plan.
“After looking through the archives and learning that Cuts for a Cause had been done before we decided to do it again but revamp it,” said Libia Castro, a graduate assistant for ASUU’s Philanthropy and Service Board. “Being partnered with Make-a-Wish Utah and having [Catalano’s] connection to Ave Salon, it seemed like the perfect event.”
ASUU, Make-a-Wish Utah and the Huntsman Cancer Institute, decided they would team up to host three separate events to raise money for children with the life threatening disease.
Although Cuts for a Cause has already passed, there are still two other events that students and faculty can attend. On Jan. 28 the groups will host a jazz music festival and on March 11 there will be a Climb-a-Thon.
@kelsey_kenyon