Natalie's Everyday Heroes: Carey 'DJ Mr. 262' Norris of Kenosha creates foundation in mother's name

 

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Kenosha DJ, Carey Norris, may be better known as DJ Mr. 262. He’s been performing and hosting events across the country for years, but lately, he’s been focused on helping closer to home. He’s established a foundation in his mother’s name, and if someone in Kenosha needs help, he’s the man to call.

“Uh-oh! Uh-oh,” Carey Norris exclaimed, as Ayden Ohm walked out of Ken’z Smooth Kutz with green hair.

Norris knows how to get a party started, and he wanted Ohm to feel special.

“I love it,” Ohm said of the new haircut, which some were calling a dinosaur cut.

Norris liked Ohm’s hair, too, and quickly helped the boy to some lunch.

“I always say, I want to help others to help others,” Norris said. “That's the whole purpose of everything we do.”

Ayden’s mom, Candice, thought his hair looked good, too.

“I like it! It's better than what I can give him,” Candice Ohm said.

All three of her sons got free haircuts at this event, organized by Norris’s Linda Faye Foundation.

“Being a single mom of three kids, I do have help every now and then, but getting them a haircut is not affordable for me,” Ohm said.

The barbers at Ken’z Smooth Kutz in Kenosha spent several hours giving 50 free haircuts to kids.

In exchange for the cut, the kids read books to the barbers.

“I want them to feel appreciated. I want them to feel cared for,” said barber, Anthony Thomas.

The kids grabbed a book before they came inside.

“I read Captain Underpants,” said 12-year-old Sylis Washington.

Thomas had another surprise he handed out to the kids in his chair, a fresh $2 bill from the bank.

“When I was a kid, my granddad gave me a $2 bill, and I kept it until I was an adult,” he said. “You know what I'm saying? I still have it to this day.”

Making it a memorable afternoon is one of Norris’s goals. After their haircuts, all the kids got lunch and a goodie bag.

“I'm trying to hold back to keep from choking up because I have a real deep passion for this,” Norris said.

He started the Linda Faye Foundation last September.

“We do everything. We're the type of foundation where there is no barriers and things of that sort when people need stuff,” he explained.

Linda Faye was Norris’s mom and she was a crossing guard who never met a stranger.

“Not just the school and the parents but anybody who drove past on their way to work, they knew who she was,” Norris remembered with a laugh.

That could be where he got his outgoing personality. Norris is also known as DJ Mr. 262, and giving back isn’t a new thing for him.

“My mom recently passed two years ago. So when my mom passed, I had to find a different reason and a cause for the give backs,” he said.

The foundation has partnered with numerous organizations in the last few months, including God’s Kitchen of Kenosha.

“We've fed almost 10,000 people since September,” Norris said with pride.

Thomas has known Norris for 30 years..

“They need more like him,” Thomas said. “He's doing a lot. He's stretching himself thin and I really appreciate everything that he's doing.”

Norris said his mission is starting to gain traction in the city. Up until recently, he funded it using his own money.

“We just began to start getting big donors to start coming in, but before, it was literally my out of town checks,” he said.

Now, he’s working with organizations such as the United Way, helping people in Kenosha whenever he’s needed.

Now he's working with organizations like the United Way, helping Kenosha wherever he's needed.

“If you need stuff to help pay your rent, your gas, you know, electricity, or get food, we're that type of foundation,” he said with a smile.

For more information on the Linda Faye Foundation, CLICK HERE. 

If you’d like to nominate someone for Natalie’s Everyday Heroes, just send Natalie a message to [email protected].