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Barber Helps Save Lives During Blizzard By Turning Shop Into A Shelter

December 29, 2022

A barber did his part to help save lives during the blizzard that hit Buffalo, NY, over the holiday weekend.

Craig Elston

Craig Elston, the owner of C&C Cutz barbershop, turned his shop into a shelter for those who were stuck outside in the arctic weather conditions.

He posted a video to social media inviting people who need shelter to come and stay at his barber shop.

@craigthebarber716 #repost #business #barbershop #blizzard #fyp #foryou #share #buffalo #buffaloblizzard2022 #blizzard #reels #winter #share #help #HolidayOREOke ♬ original sound - Craig Elston

"My first instinct is I got a building with heat and lights, like a lot of people don't. Why not open my building up to the public?" Elston said. "I genuinely just did it just so people would have somewhere to go."

Elston estimates that 50 people came in and out of his shop over the weekend. He said that around 30 people stayed all weekend, but others came in to warm up, charge their phones, and use WiFi to contact family members.

Some slept in the two large rooms, some slept in the reclined barber chairs, and some even slept on the shop floor using barber capes as blankets.

"People told me I saved their life, that in another three minutes they felt like they were going to die from the freezing cold. Some peoples' fingers were purple," Elston told Buffalo News.

Some of the guests tried to repay him for his efforts, but he declined offers.

"One guy, who didn't speak English, pulled out $1,000 to give me," he said. "He counted it out and tried to hand it to me. I told him no, I did it to help people and not for a payout."

"People's been reaching out to me calling me a hero," Elston told Insider. "And the most I tell them is that I'm no hero. I'm just a person that got a heart."

Elston continued: "I felt like at that time it was what I was supposed to do. I'm sitting in a warm place and I got lights and people are without lights. People are without gas, people are without food, people are without drinks. And I have all those things and I have access to all those things. I'm not gonna be selfish."