Barber shop donates day’s pay to Saugus Military Families

SAUGUS – What’s a day’s pay if it helps local veterans?That’s the attitude Michael Prochilo, owner of Mike’s Barbershop in Saugus Center, had this past Veterans Day as he and his staff donated all of their pay and tips for a day to the Saugus Military Families.”It’s a great country to live in and if it wasn’t for the veterans we wouldn’t have the opportunities that we’ve had and me personally have had,” said Prochilo, who has owned Mike’s for eight years. “I only went to the eighth grade and made a good living all my life. It’s because of the freedoms we have in this country. You’ve got to thank the veterans. My whole family were veterans, World War II, Korea, Vietnam.”Mike’s Barbershop donated just over $1,100 to the group, which sends care packages to Saugus residents deployed overseas.”We started about seven years ago and I used to go through the Boston Vets Center,” said Prochilo, 63. “Then I heard about this group last year and hooked up with the Saugus Military Families to try and keep it local. Veterans Day fell on a Sunday so we did Saturday ? All my barbers, we work for nothing and all our tips are donated. People from Saugus that don’t even come by the shop come by and donate. It’s worth a day’s pay. What’s a day’s pay? Those ladies, they do a wonderful job and they all do it for nothing. It’s a good cause.”Lynne Cardinale, a member of the Saugus Military Families, picked up the donation this past weekend and said even people who weren’t getting a haircut donated.”They tell everybody in the barbershop and consequently people write checks and give it to them too,” said Cardinale. “I collected one check for $100 and two for $50 from just random people.Cardinale said Prochilo first connected with the group last year and wound up raising more than $1,700.”We have a fundraising committee, and one of the girls stopped in last year and told him about us,” said Cardinale. “It wasn’t until a couple of weeks before Veterans Day last year that he called us and said he was going to do that. We gave him a plaque at one of the welcome home ceremonies to thank him for his big donation last year.”According to Cardinale, Saugus Military Families has been gaining more recognition in town since starting three years ago thanks in large part to the donation boxes at Town Hall and at the Senior Center, and the big welcome home ceremonies the group holds for returning service members.”We try to collect as many donation items as we can,” said Cardinale. “People donate socks, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes. Those kind of daily needed things and non-perishable items like snacks. Whatever we don’t get donated we have to buy with the funds that we raise.”Cardinale said packages are sent out once a month and go to Saugus residents overseas. There are currently five residents deployed now, but Cardinale, who’s son, Lt. j.g. Craig Cardinale returned from a Navy deployment over the summer, said that number has been as high as 10 in the past.”It’s only Saugus residents, but if, say they grew up in Saugus and now live in another city, we still do it for them,” said Cardinale. “Anyone can call us and give us a name. One of the soldiers wrote their mother and said they felt bad that there were a couple of soldiers in their unit that weren’t getting much from back home. So they submitted their names to our club and we actually sent them some boxes.”Saugus Military Families meets on the first Wednesday of every month at the MEG Foundation on Essex Street at 7 p.m.For more information about joining the group, or to submit a name, contact Joanne Rappa at the Town Clerk’s Office at 781-231-4101 or [email protected] or Diane Blengs, President of Saugus Military Families, at 617-448-2420 or [email protected] Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].