KILLEEN, Texas — A pair of Killeen residents passionate about mentoring youth is giving back to students by offering free haircuts to young men at Liberty Hill Middle School.
"This is what I love to do, I came into education because I love helping people and I want to make a difference in our tomorrow," Arniece Gee said.
Arnice Gee, who is also a campus instructional specialist at the school, co-owns G-Stylz Barber and Beauty Shop in Killeen alongside Jimmie Gee.
The pair are always looking for ways to make an impact in kids' lives.
"I just love giving back and throughout my walk in life I've always found something and a way to give back to the kids in the community," Jimmie Gee said.
This week, they opened up a shop called the "Lion's Den Barbershop" at Liberty Hill to provide free haircuts to young men.
"It just warms my heart the way they come in and they're like really not sure about what's going on and how this is going to go and then when they are done they are glowing," Arniece Gee said.
Arniece Gee said the goal was to help raise the students' self-esteem and show them that the community cared about them.
"So that is one thing we wanted to be able to do for these young men is show them that yes, you are beautiful in every way that God created you," Arniece Gee said. "And you may not be able to get that haircut on a regular but we wanted to make sure you had one this week so you can go on to Thanksgiving feeling special."
Approximately 25 students had their hair cut by three barbers throughout the day.
Assistant Principal Central Hicks said programs like these help show education is more than just learning from a textbook.
"It's about building relationships, it allows us as a school to build relationships with our students and our parents because they realize we don't just care about your student's academics we care about them overall as a person," Hicks said.
Arniece Gee said she also planned to do something similar for the young ladies on December 18th from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. She wants to be able to teach the girls how to care for their hair. There will also be another session for young men in the spring on April 11th.