Making sure a child is ready for the new school year can prove to be more stressful than exciting for Beaufort County families in need.

But thanks to an event at Eastern Elementary School on Monday, a haircut is one less thing the parents have to worry about.

Katie Paul, owner of Bardot hair salon in Washington, came up with the idea to provide free haircuts to students who needed them and enlisted the help of Beaufort County Community College’s cosmetology school, Christ Church of Washington, Vidant Beaufort Hospital and Washington/Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce’s Bright Futures program.

Catherine Glover, executive director at the Chamber, said one of the main goals of Bright Futures is to reach out to children in need, so the haircut event was a good way to do that.

She said the event, which ran from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, was a success, with a steady stream of children wanting haircuts coming in throughout the two hours.

“We want to grow it next year,” Glover said. “We’re meeting the students’ needs; we’re meeting the children’s needs.”

Joshua Yoder, rector/pastor at Christ Church in Washington, said he became involved with the event after learning about Bright Futures from Robin McKeithan, assistant executive director with the Chamber, and also about the need at Eastern Elementary.

He said he plans to focus more on Eastern in the future, and the event was a good way for him to get involved in the community, as he and his wife moved to Washington about a year ago.

The volunteers from Christ Church were asked to read to and play with the children to keep them busy as they waited for a haircut, Yoder said.

Breatte Garrison, a third-semester cosmetology student at BCCC, said that although the students are not allowed to do haircuts outside of the school, the event was a good opportunity to watch and learn from instructors Velma Worsley and Dora Scherer.

She said the cosmetology students were there to help out as much as possible, including cleaning up after each client, and she hopes they can have a similar event with the kids coming to the community college so the students can cut hair.

Sharon Jones, whose son Joshua received a haircut from Paul at the event, said she was grateful that the organizations worked together to make it possible.

Jones is a single mother of three, and she said using the $10 or $15 she would spend at a barbershop on school supplies instead is a big help for her family.

“I have three heads to worry about,” she said. “It means a whole lot.”

Jones said it also makes a difference when a child looks good and feels confident on the first day of school.

“The collaboration with the school and the college … I think is very beneficial,” she said. “It’s just amazing.”