KILLEEN, Texas — It's the weekend before school starts for the Killeen ISD, and one hair salon is taking steps to make sure a certain community is feeling prepared and looking ready for the school year.
"We can't change their situation, but what we can do is make them look and feel like all the other kids when they're at school," Ms. D Garcia, owner of the Inspired Designs Hair Salon, said.
School is almost back in session.
For one hair salon in Killeen, the weekend before school starts marks a day full of giving back.
"The favorite part is seeing them happy, getting hair services for the first time, just having a day of fun," Garcia said. "Because they again have to go back to the shelter and get ready for school. So we just want them to have fun and have a reason to be excited."
Ms. D Garcia has owned the Inspired Designs Hair Salon for 18 years and gets excited about their annual back to school drive every year.
It benefits close to 115 children of the local homeless shelters by giving them free backpacks, school supplies, food and hair cuts.
"There's a lot of people out here that need help. And a lot of things that you may not know they're going through," Jessia Hall-Hollins, homeless shelter member and mother of six, said. "Just to wake up and have this idea – you're helping a lot of kids. We in a shelter. Yesterday i went and bought with my last couple of dollars finger nail polish."
Jessica Hall-Hollins is living in a homeless shelter as a single mother with six kids. This event was a blessing.
"I was up at 5 am. We were going to be the first people here," Hall-Hollins said. "I took 2 hours combing out hair and this was really a blessing. I'm excited."
But mom wasn't the only one excited for today.
"I haven't gotten my hair done in a long time because my mom never had the money to," Kelsey Dale, Hall-Hollins' daughter and incoming 6th grader, said. "But we prayed every night and we ended up here."
This family is part of her why and Garcia hopes this event will continue for years and years to come.
"I'm just excited," Dale said. "I'm just happy. So happy."
Now these kids can start their first day of school with new supplies, fresh hair and a big smile on their face.
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