Cindy’s salon owner turns family loss into service abroad

Cindy Siciliano (center right) of Cindy’s Hair Studio in Tiburon donated school supplies for some 50 children on Samal, an island in the Philippines, when she visited in November 2024. She’s looking to help some 400 children with developmental disabilities when she returns this November and is raising $10,000 for her efforts. (via Cindy Siciliano)

After the death of her mother in early 2024, Cindy Siciliano decided she wanted to take on a service project in the Philippines, where her mom was born, to honor her mother’s memory.

With the support of the Rotary Club of Tiburon Sunset, of which she’s a member, Siciliano visited Samal, an island roughly 609 miles southeast of the capital, Manila, in November 2024, donating backpacks with school supplies and more than 100 10-pound bags of rice to families, while treating local kids to ice cream.

The experience left a lasting impression on Siciliano, who owns Cindy’s Hair Studio on Tiburon Boulevard.

“It’s really touching, you feel like, ‘Wow, we’re so spoiled here,’” she says. “When I saw the kids get just so excited about getting ice cream in line, … you wouldn’t see kids in America jumping up for joy for an ice cream cone like that.”

The Mill Valley resident is now aiming to raise $10,000 by early June ahead of another planned humanitarian trip to the Philippines in November. The money will go toward supporting 400 students with developmental disabilities on Samal.

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