KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – A Knoxville man saw the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helen and wanted to help.
Just a block from the damaged Hot Springs Resort and Spa and next to Sarah Joe’s Station, one of the only businesses still open, there is a porch offering a little bit of normalcy.
Travis Hall drives up every weekend and gives haircuts to help where he can.
“It’s really nice to learn something that’s valuable to people in this way,” Hall said. “So I’m just having fun.”
Every weekend, he opens a pop-up hair salon on his porch right next to the Appalachian Trail.
He has given away over 70 haircuts. If Mr. Hall had been in Knoxville, he would have been paid about $100 per customer, totaling about $7,000 in donations for haircuts.
Some people wait for over an hour.
“We’ve all lost our jobs, so any donations are very helpful,” said one person.
Just two weeks before the flood, he was actually looking for a place to live in the area.
The day after the flood, he was there to help clean up.
“Nothing is open anymore. It’s amazing how many people are willing to do what they do here,” said one patron.
When people insist on paying Hall, he puts the money in a jar and sets it aside for those who need it.
“It’s more than just a haircut,” Sarah Jo says. “Please support Travis. He is making us beautiful one by one here in Hot Springs.”
He gives about 15 haircuts each day and will have helped one-fifth of Hot Springs’ population by the first weekend in November.
He never expected anyone to need his services, but now people are lining up for hours to see him.
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