TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Instead of homework, Northtowns Academy students were able to focus on a haircut as a mobile barbershop made a visit to the Erie 1 BOCES school.
What started as a traveling barbershop to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, barber Michael Dinino has transformed his business into a place that provides more than haircuts.
"It moved into its own being of how we can help and provide for the inner city and the youth of Buffalo," Dinino said. "Each and every person in this world should have a little bit of attention and have a day that's just for them."
The van's stop on Thursday was at Northtowns Academy, where students could sign up, with parental permission, to hop into the vehicle and get a fresh haircut for the start of summer vacation.
"Northtowns Academy is a great place," Terry Ruh, principal, said. "It's a fun community, and we work really hard to provide a wonderful experience for our kids while helping them develop educationally and emotionally."
Dinino told 7 News he travels all over Western New York giving these free haircuts to kids and other community members — hoping to spread his motto of "look good, feel good."
"You should see the smiles when they walk out of there [the van], big grins on their faces," Ruh said. "They've been given an opportunity for this really positive interaction, and they feel good about themselves, and we love that."
