MANILA, Philippines — He does it every Sunday, the day of the week when he's not styling the hair of athletes, fashion designers, models and the well-to-do, when he roams New York's streets wanting to make a homeless person's day.
Filipino-American hairdresser Mark Bustos, 30, recently gained international attention as the subject of a Huffington Post story after he started posting Intagram photos of his little, weekly project doing free haircuts for the poor.
In his Instagram account, Bustos recounts how the "movement" started in 2012 during a visit to the Philippines, where his family members live.
"[Throwback] to that time a few years ago, I had the opportunity to work in a 100+ degree barbershop in my hometown province in the Philippines giving free haircuts to less fortunate children," Bustos said. "This day started the movement."
He labels the photos he posts on the social networking site with the hashtag #BeAwesomeToSomebody, urging his friends and followers to also carry out deeds without a reward or payment.
Bustos' photos also reveal that he has done the same for homeless individuals in California and Jamaica.
Bustos said he intentionally cuts hair for the homeless in open, well-traveled spaces like street corners and sidewalks so that the public can watch -- "not to see me," he notes, but so that others can find inspiration in the good deed, and be kind to those less unfortunate as well. "Even a simple smile can go a long way," Bustos told HuffPost.