PORT TOWNSEND — The Victorian Clipper is out to generate some buzz — and donations — for the Port Townsend Food Bank at a time of year when it needs the most help.
On Sunday, anyone who walks into the barber shop at 530 Kearney St. can get a free buzz cut.
Owner Debi Hinton is asking for pledges to be donated to the food bank.
Planning the fundraiser for March, Hinton began taking pledges right after Valentine’s Day, asking customers to commit a specific amount for each cut.
As of Thursday, 162 people had promised to kick in with amounts from 5 cents to $1.50 per cut.
If the business can do 100 cuts, it will raise about $2,000 for the food bank, Hinton said.
Hinton, who has been cutting hair in Port Townsend for 23 years, got the idea after talking to Food Bank Director Shirley Moss, who said that the time between the holiday giving season and when the crops came in as the hardest time to serve its clients.
“We’re getting more all the time,” Moss said.
“A couple of weeks ago, we served 280 families.”
In February, the Port Townsend Food Bank served 3,528 people and 298 of those were new clients, Moss said.
The Port Townsend Food Bank at 1925 Blaine St., which Moss directs, is one of four food banks in the Jefferson County Food Bank Association, which also includes food banks in Chimacum, Brinnon and Quilcene.
The Port Angeles bank distributes food to the public one a week, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, but people can come in anytime during regular business hours Monday through Friday to donate.
Food always is welcome, but cash goes father, Moss said, because the food bank supplier, Food Lifelilne based in Shoreline, sells food for 3 cents per pound.
That means that a $1 donation will buy 33 pounds of food, Moss said.
Hinton and her sister, Ada Isakson, normally split shifts with Isakson cutting Monday and Tuesday and Hinton working the rest of the week so that the shop can stay open every day.
For this event, however, an extra chair will be pulled out of the back of the shop so the two can work in tandem.
Most of the pledges come from regular customers, but Hinton hopes to get people who don’t usually come into the shop.
While Isakson will cut women’s hair, Hinton is not trained to do so, although she will give a woman a man’s cut if she desires.
After the event, Hinton will post a list of pledgers on the shop wall that can be checked off when they come in for their monthly haircut and settle the bill.
If the food bank fundraiser is successful, Hinton hopes to do it again.
“We want to make this an annual event and become the most expensive free haircuts in Port Townsend history,” she said.
For more information about the Port Townsend Food Bank, phone 360-531-0275.
To donate to the county food banks, call the Port Townsend number or mail checks to P.O. Box 1795, Port Townsend, WA 98368.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
