Hair Cuttery Salons to Promote Drunk Driving Prevention May 15

RIO GRANDE – One-hundred and sixteen Hair Cuttery salons throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, including the Rio Grande Hair Cuttery store, will be supporting statewide efforts to prevent drunk driving as they begin a month-long fund raising promotion for the HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers®.
Hair Cuttery will ask customers to contribute to the HERO Campaign through its Cut-a-thon main event is to be held at every store on Sunday, May 15, and through its pin-up ribbon and wristband promotion now through the end of May.
The region-wide cut-a-thon is expected to bring about lots of buzz about the campaign and to help raise awareness about this great cause. Hairstylists will be donating their time while patrons can come in on Sunday, May 15 from 6-9 p.m. to their local Hair Cuttery and get a haircut at a discounted price of $10. Local schools and sports teams are encouraged to wear their colors and uniforms to receive a haircut at a discounted price of $7.50; all proceeds are donated to the HERO campaign.
In addition, Customers can donate $1 to have their signed HERO ribbons mounted up in the store on the windows in all 116 Hair Cuttery stores. Customers can also purchase a HERO Wristband for $2.
Hair Cuttery is the first salon chain to adopt the statewide highway safety organization, established in memory of Navy Ensign John Elliott of Egg Harbor Township who was killed by a drunken driver in July, 2000. John was named outstanding Human Education Resource Officer (HERO) for his service at the U.S. Naval Academy.
This past fall Hair Cuttery helped raise thousands of dollars through their HERO haircut promotion that gave discounts to those who received a “HERO” haircut (which is the naval academy hair cut).
The HERO Campaign will use proceeds from Hair Cuttery to promote the use of sober designated drivers through television commercials, highway billboards, posters, car window decals, brochures and aerial banners flown over area beaches this summer. The campaign is active in schools and colleges in New Jersey; and in participating bars, taverns and restaurants that serve free soft drinks to sober designated drivers. The Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants, NJ State Police, NJ Turnpike and Parkway Authority, Atlantic City Expressway and several Atlantic City casino hotels also have adopted the campaign. Middlesex County has declared itself a “HERO County” by adopting the program.
“We are proud to support the HERO Campaign and its efforts to save lives and keep our highways safer,” commented Dennis Ratner, founder and CEO of Hair Cuttery. “Our stylists are excited about helping such a worthy cause and raising awareness for drunken driving prevention. The safety of our clients, associates and the community is a high priority for Hair Cuttery.”
Bill Elliott, John Elliott’s father and founder of the HERO Campaign stated: “We appreciate Hair Cuttery’s support for our efforts to prevent future drunk driving tragedies in John’s memory. Drunk driving tragedies claim more than 17,000 lives and injure 350,000 more each year nationwide–and are totally preventable.”
He added: “The HERO Campaign is a positive legacy for our son. Now the heroes will be the designated drivers who keep our highways safer in John’s memory.
For more information, the website address for the HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers is www.herocampaign.org, or call 1-866-700-HERO (4376).