ROCK FALLS, Ill. — It's Christmas Eve and the season of giving is going strong for Ben Phillips, owner of Ben's Phresh Kutz Barbershop in Rock Falls, Ill. On Dec. 24, he gave over a dozen free haircuts for children-in-need.
"When I was a kid, I didn't have much," Phillips said. "So now I'm a successful business owner. And I like helping the community. I like giving back to the community."
He says the idea for this promotion came last year after talking with his wife about how the Covid-19 Pandemic affected everyone.
"A lot of families are going through a hard time, especially with COVID. A lot of families lost their jobs. Money's hard these days. So I said you know what, my haircuts are 40 bucks. I'm gonna give some free haircuts out for the community."
And that's what he's done last year and this year, although last year he helped a few more kids (15) than this year (12). He says the recent winter storm has pushed some people from traveling the roads.
Nevertheless, he says giving back to the community that helped him to grow his business almost 20 years ago is something his late mother instilled in him.
"If my mom was alive today, she would be smiling," Phillips said.
And to his customers, he says he couldn't have been successful without his first customers giving his business a try.
"I love my customers. My customers are the foundation of my business. My customers made Phresh Kutz. Without my customers it wouldn't be Phresh Kutz," Phillips said.
And as to why help children in need specifically?
"A haircut puts a smile on a kid's face. I like seeing kids smile after they get the haircut."
But that's not the only reason.
"I grew up poor," Phillips said. "I didn't have [anything]. But my mom made sure there were shoes on my feet clothes on my back [and] I had food in the refrigerator. But I didn't have [any] fancy Nikes, no fancy Air Jordans,"
He first learned to cut hair when he was 13 years old from his Uncle and he fell in love with it. Now, over three decades later and he has over 700 clients, and has the ability to show his gratitude through various giveaways he holds via his social media accounts.
"What he's doing is very great for the community and for also the local kids," said Aerial Williams, a regular customer whose son received a free haircut.
And she isn't the only mother who benefited from Phillips' season of giving.
"It's always nice to you know take the kids to get a free haircut," Rachel Quaco said. "It's one less thing that we adults have to pay for."
And if Phillips could talk to his own mother, who passed away in 1991, one last time, he says, "I would say, 'Mom, thank you. I love you. And this is the gift that God has given me and thank you for believing in me. Thank you so much.'"