Joseph Parker-Smith, says every dollar counts as he dyes his mullet blonde to raise money for Gumboot Friday through the Blonde Mullet Brigade initiative
Joseph Parker-Smith, says every dollar counts as he dyes his mullet blonde to raise money for Gumboot Friday through the Blonde Mullet Brigade initiative
Growing out his mullet since November 2022, Joseph Parker-Smith has dyed it blonde for Mike King’s I AM HOPE Blonde Mullet Brigade.
Blonde Mullet Brigade was inspired by Julian Moore who grew a blue mullet in 2022 raising funds for I AM HOPE. Mike King decided to start Blonde Mullet Brigade and get as many Kiwis as possible to grow a mullet this year and dye them blonde in support and fundraising for free kids counselling via Gumboot Friday.
Parker-Smith himself has dealt with mental health struggles from a young age after his best friend took his own life when they were 15 years old.
“At 15yrs old I lost my best friend Cory to suicide and it broke me, I had no idea how to deal with it and on numerous occasions I found myself in that very dark place,” Parker-Smith said.
Six years ago Parker-Smith again found himself in that very dark place and rang Lifeline needing help as he knew he was losing control.
He got fed up with the “cliche” advice he was given and hung up on Lifeline. After failing to respond to Lifeline’s texts and calls, little did he know that the helpline had dispatched police to his location.
When police showed up, Parker-Smith was in a bad place. “After this, I finally understood the mindset of someone in a dark place because I knew I shouldn’t be doing what I was doing but I couldn’t stop myself from doing it.”
“Lifeline saved my life that night and my best friend Aiden and his family ensured I was looked after until I regained my strength to look after myself,” Parker-Smith said.
With his new understanding of that mindset, he decided he could help others and since then has always supported I AM HOPE and Gumboot Friday with his own fundraising as he believes they do incredible work.
The local mental health advocate’s latest fundraising endeavour has been to join Mike King’s Blonde Mullet Brigade.
Joseph Parker-Smith started growing out his mullet in November 2022 and now in August of 2023, he has dyed it blonde for the Blonde Mullet Brigade fundraiser
“I’m doing this (Blonde Mullet Brigade) because I strongly support what Mike and I AM HOPE are doing for mental health, as the best way to prevent suicides is to teach our young people how to positively deal with these emotions and how to to get through tough times so when life gets tough they already have the knowledge and skills to get through,” Parker-Smith said.
For roughly eight months now Parker-Smith has been growing out his mullet, before dying it blonde in the first weekend of August.
Now all that’s left to do is raise the money for kids’ mental health support. Parker-Smith said his goal is to raise as much as possible.
“I don’t like to set an actual goal as if you hit it early or set it too high then people get reluctant to donate because they see the goal’s unrealistic or it has already been hit, so I prefer to have an open goal and just raise as much as possible,” he said.
Parker-Smith added, “Gumboot Friday receives no government funding and its services are absolutely crucial for our young people so I urge people to support Gumboot Friday and donate, even if it’s only $1 because if every Kiwi donated $1 that’d total over $5million so every little bit certainly helps.”
If you would like to help Parker-Smith with his Blonde Mullet Brigade fundraiser, you can donate on his give-a-little page.
Parker Smith would like to give a “massive thank you to Halo Hair Design Ltd for donating their time to do my final cut and colour in support of my efforts.”
Maddisyn Jeffares became the editor of the Hawke’s Bay community papers Hastings Leader and Napier Courier in 2023 after writing the Hastings Leader for almost a year. She has been a reporter with the NZME for almost three years now and has a strong focus on what’s going on in the communities, good and bad, big and small. Email news tips to her at: maddisyn.jeffarea@nzme.co.nz
