“She’s a really, really special person to us,” said Overbey, speaking of Yoshimi Andrews — a Japanese-American stylist who called her. “This is a great opportunity for us to give back.”
The German Village salon will host the “Cut-A-Thon” event from 1 to 5 p.m. May 15, with all the proceeds going directly to the Japanese Red Cross, Overbey said. Funds will be used to help those who live in the Sendai prefecture, which is about 300 miles south of the capital Tokyo.
Haircuts will be $19.95, spa manicures and henna body art will be $10, and a spa manicure with nail art will be $15. Donations also may be made without having a service done.
“After watching so much of the devastation on TV, I thought, ‘I don’t have a thing to be complaining about — I got a home, I got a car, I got a business — so I should quit my whining,” Overbey said.
Overbey said all too often Americans take basic things for granted and this was an opportunity to help bring back normalcy to the tsunami-devasted area.
“So many of them have nothing,” she said. “They lost so much of their families — it’ll never be the same for them.”
For Andrews, who has lived in the U.S. for the past 17 years, an overwhelmingly feeling of helplessness compelled her to make the call to Overbey, she said. The Tokyo native wants to keep the devastation in Japan at the forefront of people’s mind.
“I was thinking about how I could help, what I could do,” she said. “Being away hurts, and I wanted to do some positive action, but I didn’t know what to do.”
She said it’s also a way to create a healthy environmental in the Hamilton community, by “creating harmony between people.”
As a practitioner of Buddhism, Andrews said one pillar of the religion is to help others, and she’s not only been praying for those in Japan, but also for people not to forget what happened there.
“Only one person’s prayer might be small, but when prayer gets put together, it’s powerful,” Andrews said. “We need to do something positive — together.”
Andrews hasn’t been to Japan in five years, citing the cost of airfare, but before that, she went every year.
The goal is to raise $1,000, and the spirit of giving has further fueled Overbey to host future fundraising events at least once a year, she said.
Overbey’s business partner, Lori Sapp-Walker, said the recent tornado devastation in the South could be another opportunity to continue their charitable efforts.
About the Author