Men are known to enjoy talking about sports and exchanging opinions while getting a haircut at the barbershop.

Now a group of barbers and fraternity members plans to encourage barber customers, particularly black men, to turn the talk into action that will transform customers into mentors for young black males.

The barbers and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity members are urging barber customers to sign up as mentors for about 780 black boys in North Texas who are on a Big Brothers Big Sisters waiting list.

Fraternity members and Big Brothers recruiters will be at certain barber shops throughout Texas from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. Five shops in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are recruitment sites: Ebony4U, 5840 Alpha Road, and L.A. Elite Cuts, 19009 Preston Road, Suite 117, both in Dallas; Tye's Barber & Beauty Salon, 910 W. Parker Road, in Plano; Ray's Barber & Beauty Salon, 1565 W. Main St., Suite 215, in Lewisville; and Choppa City, 6700 Brentwood Stair Road, in Fort Worth.

Big Brothers Big Sisters long has appealed for mentors, particularly for young black males. Alpha Phi Alpha members decided to help recruit because they see an urgent need for positive male role models, said Dale Long, a member of the fraternity and a dedicated 33-year Big Brother. He is leading a national campaign to recruit 10,000 black men to mentor 10,000 black male youths by December 2008.

The effort is particularly timely in Dallas as City Council member Dwaine Caraway and school board member Ron Price are pushing to get parents and local leaders to pay more attention to youth, particularly to help steer black male youths away from the sagging-pants fad that the leaders say is negative.

"We hope the socially conscious group of men in these shops will feel compelled to move from just talking to actually doing something," Mr. Long said in a news release. "In order to be a man, our young people must see a man."

To volunteer, call 1-888-887-2447 or visit www.bbbsnt.org.

This article was provided by: The Dallas News