Charity Begins at Home: Paul Mitchell Schools Donate $133,000 to Local Charities

In the past 11 years, the international network of Paul Mitchell cosmetology schools has raised and donated over $13.3 million to a variety of charitable organizations, including $1 million to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, $1 million to Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation, $410,000 to the Gary Sinise Foundation, $270,000 to Habitat for Humanity, and $680,000 to Food 4 Africa, to name just a few.

This year, many Paul Mitchell schools added a new twist to their “giving back” philosophy by pledging a portion of the $2.1 million they raised in their annual FUNraising campaign to charities in their own local communities. Their local donations came to a grand total of $133,640.

Sharon Riser, director of The Temple, A Paul Mitchell Partner School in Frederick, MD, said, “One of our students had recently returned to school after being hospitalized for her struggles with depression. When she saw a newspaper article about our plans to raise money for the local Mental Health Association, she just asked ‘Why?’ I told her about my father-in-law who had died from suicide many years ago, and that we never take for granted mental health or the need for resources for our students. She had been thinking about dropping out of school, but when she saw what do on a local level, and specifically for the organization where she receives counseling services, she said it truly was a sign that she was meant to be in our doors.”

“We strive to be good neighbors, good citizens, and good contributors in every community where we have a Paul Mitchell School,” says Winn Claybaugh, dean and cofounder of Paul Mitchell Schools. “When it comes to charity, some people donate money, and some people donate their time. We do both.”

With over 100 schools across America, plus their first international school in Slovenia, Paul Mitchell Schools have always been active in their local Boys and Girls Clubs, toy drives, and other community events. Each year, hundreds of students cut hair and help out at Mother’s Day and back-to-school events at the Fred Jordan Missions in Los Angeles’s skid row, attended by thousands of women and children. Every winter, students and staff members all over the country pamper and bring holiday cheer to nursing homes and senior centers on “Ann Bowler Day,” a tradition that honors senior citizens. On 9/11, Veterans Day, and other holidays, students and staff members hold special events and fundraisers to honor their community’s first responders, military service men and women, and police and firefighters.

[Image courtesy of Paul Mitchell Schools]