Stylists at Level 5 Salon Step It Up a Notch

When it comes to supporting their home town, the stylists at don’t cut corners.

“All six of us are caregivers, either for our children or our parents,” says Rosa Carretero-Fung, the owner of the San Leandro salon at 1229 MacArthur Blvd. “So it makes sense that we try to connect and care for the community where we do business.”

Carretero-Fung and her general manager Suzette (McD) Bija team up with Davis Street Family Resource Center, Oakland Children’s Hospital and local artists, as well as their clients and other local businesses, for everything from fundraisers to Mommy Amour Days for mothers of ill children.

Right now, Carretero-Fung and Bija are gearing up for a clothing exchange March 19 at .

The exchange is fun for the guests and benefits women struggling to get off welfare and re-enter the workforce.

“We invite our clients, business owners and everyone in the community to bring new or gently used clothes, accessories and shoes,” says Carretero-Fung, who hosts the exchange twice a year.

For a $10 entry fee, which includes appetizers and wine, guests can swap their donated items and shop for something new. Clothes that are not claimed are donated to the .

Rose Padilla Johnson, the executive director of Davis Street, says the clothing donations they receive from Level 5 Salon benefits are “incredible.”

“They truly meet the needs of our clients, many of whom are women entering the workforce,” says Padilla Johnson. “The clothing exchange has become a neighborhood gathering of women who want to connect and share to help the less fortunate.”

Children benefit from the clothing exchanges too.

“The last exchange we held was at Roosevelt Elementary School last May,” says Bija. “We raised $500 for the school’s Scholastic Book Club and donated $17,000 worth of unclaimed clothing to Davis Street.”

The Scholastic Book Club provides vouchers to families who can’t afford books for their children.

“That was a great feeling,” says Bija. “I had kids come up and hug me. They told me, 'We wouldn’t have got the books without this.’ ”

Tradition of Giving

Carretero-Fung, who also hosts client appreciation and Mother’s Day events at the salon, says she was raised to find ways to give back to her community.

“It was instilled in me as a little girl,” says Carretero-Fung, who worked in human resources at Veritas Corp. before opening her salon five years ago.

In addition to the semiannual Clothing Exchanges, the salon partners with Children’s Hospital in Oakland to aid mothers and children.

On Mommy Amour Day, the salon offers a full day of pampering to mothers of children in the hospital. In the past, the salon teamed up with its neighbors on the block to make the day extra special— gave free manicures and pedicures and restaurant provided a sit-down lunch.

Green Theme

Clothing is not the only thing that Level 5 Salon recycles.

“Not a strand of hair that we cut goes to waste,” says Bija. “All that hair on the floor is saved for Matter of Trust, which makes mats to soak up oil spills.”

The hair is stuffed into pantyhose and floated over the oil, where it acts as a natural absorbent.

“Although the huge spill in the gulf gained international attention, in fact there are about 1,200 smaller oil spills every year,” says Bija. “So hair is always needed.”

Sometimes customers donate their tresses to another worthy cause.

About once a month, Level 5 gets a call from someone who wants to cut their hair and donate it to Locks of Love, an organization that makes natural wigs for people who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy or other illnesses.

“People who are donating have usually been touched by a loss in their life,” says Bija. “Cutting their hair is very emotional, there are a lot of tears.”

Stylist Roza Stewart was adding highlights to her client Ashley Haussmann’s hair recently. Haussman says she likes it that Level 5 is concerned with the community and the environment.

“Even the shampoo brand they use is in recycled bottles,” says Haussmann, who is looking forward to taking part in the Clothing Exchange. “I like that they’re conscious and concerned about the future of the environment and that they do good things for the community.”

It’s not just about doing good, says Bija. It’s about having fun.

“We want to help the community and make it better,” she says. “But we also want to make it fun. If it’s not fun, why bother?”

Level 5 Salon is located at 1229 MacArthur Blvd., San Leandro; phone 614-8085. The Clothing Exchange will be held at Zocalo Coffeehouse, 645 Bancroft Ave., on March 19, 7 to 9 p.m. Drop clothes off ahead of time at the salon, or bring them to Zocalo on the evening of the event.