Jon Escuesta and Jerry Jones are quite the dynamic duo. Lifelong friends, they spearhead the vision for City Cuts, the barbershop that Escuesta founded in 2006 in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, a borough of less than 5,000 people. But it's the perfect place for these two entrepreneurs and their City Cuts team to empower the children of their community to grow in confidence and always reach for the heights.

City Cuts' ideality, their partnership with the community, and their uplift of young people, is the subject of this week's Feel-Good Friday.

City Cuts' mission statement on their website is simple, yet quite profound.

Looking your best starts with feeling your best. And that goes deeper than a haircut. It’s about giving back. Doing the right thing. Creating a community. Caring about each other. And, yeah, a great haircut doesn’t hurt either.

Caring for one another and creating community was the driving force behind their "Books for Kids" program. When a kid comes in for a haircut, City Cuts offers the kid $3.00 if he or she reads a book out loud while getting a service done. What started before COVID as a way to build confidence in youth has exploded into a literacy program that has garnered results. Once the national Department of Education (ED) is dismantled and they send that money back to the states, Pennsylvania needs to provide a regular grant to City Cuts for doing the work that the ED failed to do. 

Books for Kids first gained national attention back in 2019, after Escuesta posted this video to their shop's Facebook page. 

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This 2021 blog post gives insight into how the program began.

It was this passion that led to City Cuts’ ongoing Books by Kids program, which strives to build confidence in kids by having them read in front of others while receiving a fresh haircut. For their efforts, the kids are rewarded with a three dollar payment, a lot of praise, sometimes a t-shirt or a bookmark, and usually even some sweet treats like Airheads or other popular candies. 

Jon started Books by Kids over four years ago while he and Jerry were volunteering as basketball coaches. After noticing that their players were having a bit of trouble communicating on the court, Jon and Jerry began brainstorming ways to make them more comfortable with communication.

Following a sizable book donation from Kutztown, the program was born. Eventually, the initiative became so popular that children began bringing their own books to read. After that, City Cuts saw noted improvement in their young clientele’s willingness to chat, express themselves, and communicate in general.

 Our Goal is to become the pillars of our community and create an environment where people feel comfortable with being themselves,” the duo said.

Thanks to the newfound platform, Escuesta was able to share his vision, and at least 10 other barbershops and beauty salons have begun offering similar literacy programs.

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These days, Jon and Jerry are more focused on the impact their local barbershop can have on the local community, but especially local youths.

“We want to exude confidence in our community’s youth and teach them to speak their minds and provide them with positive role models,” Cuesta said. 

“Hair cuts are art, that's the easy part, that comes naturally,” Jon says. “It's not about the hair-cut, it's about helping kids create a positive future for themselves. Making a positive impact is everything. We want to be big brothers to the kids that come in.”

And they were doing all this pre-pandemic. Once the nation opened again, City Cuts ramped up their community outreach. In 2024, they offered a back-to-school drive where they give free cuts and provide school supplies, and hosted a "Book by Night" event where kids read during the halftime of local school basketball games. 

It's an incredible story of the power of friendship, the power of partnership, and going beyond capitalism or offering a service, to become the threads that make up the fabric of one's community. Escueta and City Cuts are replicating their reach. They will be opening a second location in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. For some additional feel-goods, one customer wrote this glowing review of City Cuts and why they are a success. Other entrepreneurs and business owners should take note.

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