They only had 13 days of planning, but organizers say an event to benefit hair stylist John “Tweeka Weed” Barber raised more than $24,000, with money still coming in.
In early December, Barber was diagnosed with sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. He’s undergoing daily radiation and chemotherapy and is optimistic for a full recovery. He has health insurance, but deductibles were stacking up into the thousands of dollars so his friend, local performer Blue Starr, decided to put together a fundraiser to help.
Starr pulled in Sue-Bee Laginess and a few other local leaders to help, culminating in an event that featured live and silent auctions, raffles and about a dozen performers at the Stardust Lounge on Jan. 23. Even Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer stopped by and said a few words.
“The place was jam packed with people, and I don’t know how the fire marshal didn’t come in and shut us down,” Laginess said.
Starr said the way people jumped in to help is a testament to what Barber has given to his community.
“I’ve done a lot of fundraisers and I raise a lot of money every year but this was the quickest and easiest event I’ve done because of the people [who helped out],” she said. “It was unbelievable to watch the community rally and show their support.”
Starr said when Barber saw the number of items donated to his cause, he “was speechless, which doesn’t happen very much!”
Barber said being on the other side of fundraisers was difficult.
“I didn’t really want to do it because it’s hard for me to let my guard down, because I’m usually the one in charge or the one on the microphone organizing the show,” he said. “It was probably one of most amazing days of my life.”
Barber said he has “a lot of treatment left” and likely will be out of work for at least a month down the road, but in the meantime, he’ll continue styling hair until he physically can’t.
He said the money is now in a special trustee fund that is only for medical bills, and the funds raised will allow him to cover his out of pocket premiums for the rest of the year—Ideally, with some left over.
“What we’re hoping is that I’m going to get better, I’m not going to need it all and we’ll pick somebody every year who is in need to keep the money rolling over,” he said.
Starr said it was “beautiful” how the community rallied on Barber’s behalf.
“It puts the belief back in your system that we are an amazing community here and we do amazing things together,” she said.
