The Cuban Daniel González Collazo, 20 years old, finishes his day as a barber in Las Vegas, but he doesn't put away his tools: he places a portable chair, a cape, and his scissors in his car and heads out to find homeless individuals to give them free haircuts and provide them with clothes, shoes, or food.
"I always bring my little chair, my cape, everything in the car. Literally, as soon as I finish, I leave," the young man shared in a report by Telemundo Las Vegas, which accompanied one of his days as part of the initiative "Sowing Hope."
Daniel arrived in the United States from Cuba when he was 13 years old and began working as a barber at 16. He currently shares this trade with his father and brother at Big Cut barbershop and continues a family tradition.
"I continue this tradition; for me, it is a source of pride," he stated.
But behind her charitable initiative is also the experience of having grown up in Cuba.
"I come from Cuba, a country where there is total misery. Where I had a little bit, and if you didn't have anything, I would share that little bit with you, even if it was something trivial," he recalled.
For Daniel, helping does not depend on having great resources.
"It's something that came to me. You don't need to have so much to be able to help people," she explained.
During the journey, accompanied by Telemundo, he met Francis, a man who, according to the report, had been living on the streets for two years with his father and claimed not to have eaten for two days.
Daniel cut his hair and gave him clothes and food.
Beyond the change in appearance, the young man assures that those minutes in the chair often become an opportunity to listen to those who live on the streets.
"I like it when they smile. When I cut their hair, it's as if they step out of their world and start talking to me, sharing their stories," he said.
The story generated numerous messages of recognition on social media, many of which came from Cubans who highlighted both the gesture of solidarity and the young man's Cuban roots.
"Daniel, you represent the best of Cubans, kindness. Blessings, young man," wrote a user. Another internet user summarized: "Cubans like this represent us," while several comments described him as "Cuban pride."
Among the reactions was one from a user who claimed to know the family from Cuba. "They are from my neighborhood in Cuba; I watched him and his brother grow up. Their dad was my barber since I was a child," wrote Jorge Carlos Durán Fonseca, providing a personal testimony about the family history recounted by Daniel to Telemundo.
The report was published during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated from September 15 to October 15, a period dedicated to recognizing the contributions of the Latino community to American society.
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