Fifty is the magic number for Patrick Lomantini. He will travel to 50 states for 50 days to complete 50 haircuts with all the proceeds going to 50 animal shelters. His Muncie, Ind., stop at Modifi Hair Salon marked day 27.
For someone who's been on the road cutting hair for 12 hours a day for 27 days, Lomantini doesn't look like he's lost a wink of sleep. His passion for the cause shines through as he chatted and laughed with volunteers and those getting their hair cut at the Muncie salon.
"What drives me is the energy and expectations of everybody waiting for me," Lomantini said. "It's pure adrenaline."
That and a bit of coffee and energy drinks.
Near the front door, Muncie Animal Rescue Fund volunteers and staff members manned a table decorated with ARF blankets, pictures of animals needing adoption and pamphlets on the shelter. Donations filled two jars in the center of the table.
Lomantini was the only one cutting hair this day, though stylists from Modifi were present in the salon to show their support.
ARF founder Terri Panszi waited in a salon chair as one of the Modifi stylists prepared dye for her hair. Though it was their day off, they made an exception for her. Tears welled up in Panszi's eyes as she thanked Lomantini and the salon for their support.
"It's just wonderful," she said, her voice shaking with gratitude.
A little past 1 p.m. and Lomantini was already past the halfway point of his $1,000 goal.
FOR LOVE
ARF is one of 50 animal shelters and humane societies across the nation that will receive donations from Lomantini's 50 States Tour. Melissa Blair, ARF director, said the donations will go toward the shelter's veterinarian bills, which can total up to thousands of dollars a month. She has seen many types of fundraisers, she said, but this was by far the most original.
"It's quite a feat," Blair said of Lomanitini's tour. "It shows commitment for what you love."
In Lomantini's case, his loves are animals and cutting hair. But he didn't discover how much both meant to him until later in life.
Lomantini never had a strong connection with pets growing up. His grandpa and uncles had hunting dogs, but it wasn't until adulthood when he dated girls with pets that he fell in love with animals and began visiting humane societies.
Now, he has five dogs, all of which are staying with friends while he's on the tour. He even picked up two more along the way: an English bulldog named Elseworth from Arkansas and a pit bull puppy named Texas from Mississippi.
Cutting hair also came later in life - only five years ago. All through high school, college and the 10 years following, Lomantini sold cars. After moving from St. Louis back home to Kansas, he became a personal trainer, but continued to be entranced by fashion and hair. It wasn't until he met a 60-year-old man who hated everything about his life that Lomantini finally decided to do what he loved. He enrolled in hair school a week later.
PLANNING STAGES
The idea for Lomantini's 50 States Tour began two years ago. He had just finished setting the Guinness World Record for cutting hair for the longest duration of time - 72 hours. In those three days, he completed 227 haircuts in his Wichita, Kan., salon, Lomantini the Salon. The $1,800 he raised went to the local humane society.
"I wanted it to be more than just about me cutting hair at my salon for 72 hours," he said.
After it was over, Lomantini questioned how he could possibly outdo himself. Upon a friend's suggestion, the 50 States Tour was developed.
After eight months of planning and almost to the end of the tour, Lomantini was convinced he would never do it again. But as he watched the sun rise on his drive from Montana to Wyoming, a realization hit him.
"I had just spent 10 months planning the most ridiculous tour and pulling it off and grabbing people's attention for the plight of what I loved: the homeless, abused animals and shelters that taken care of them," he said. "I've been very fortunate to be able to marry my passion for hair and love for animals into a cause."
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
For each leg of the tour, Lomantini has a story.
The Bristol Animal Shelter in Rhode Island used to be police station. The Merrimack Co. SPCA in New Hampshire is a remodeled chicken coop.
In Hartsville, S.C., Lomantini tripled his donations from last year, even though he only completed one additional haircut.
Two people paid $1,000 each for their haircuts in Little Rock, Ark.
Caina Lynch, one of the humane society volunteers in Murray, Tenn., offered to drive with Lomantini for the following four days to give him a break from driving and allow him some sleep.
"The reason I love the shelters so much is because they're based primarily on the help and the love of volunteers," Lomantini said. "Not everyone can go and clean cages, walk dogs, wash dogs, transport dogs. I can't do what they do but I can do what I do, so this is my way of giving back, to show them I have a lot of support for what they do for our community."
Last year's mission on the tour was to do the impossible. This year, Lomantini said the mission has changed to building relationships with the people and volunteers he meets so he can continue the program in the future.
So far he's been successful. He already plans on returning to Muncie on Aug. 27, 2013, and several other locations from the tour.
By the end of the day, Lomantini completed 40 haircuts and raised just over $1,200 for ARF.
Today, he'll be in Chicago before he finishes out the western states. With the exception of flights to Hawaii and Alaska, he will be driving the entire route.
As soon as he's done, he'll probably repeat what he did last year - sleep for three days. But the second he catches up on sleep, he'll began planning for next year's tour. Since everything is paid out of pocket (he relies on tips for gas), next year he hopes to get grants and sponsorships to help with the cost.
But either way, he'll continue doing what he loves to support the animals he loves.
"I'm an underdog," he said. "And they're underdogs - no pun intended. We have to be their voice."
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For more information on Patrick Lomantini and his tour, visit the BarkAID website or the 50 States Tour Facebook page.
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