CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On Sunday, a nonprofit organization held a father and daughter bonding event during which attendees learned about healthy hair care and its impact on self-esteem.

Raise a Child of the Carolinas, which exposes children to opportunities underrepresented in their communities, hosted the #Girldad Hair Love event as part of their new ‘Family Matters Program.’

RAAC Founder and Executive Director Shaguana Hunt said the event aimed to stress the importance of fathers getting involved with their daughters’ self-image.

“We hope that fathers walk away empowered and confident in helping to care for their daughter’s hair, as well as feel confident enough to continue to remind her how beautiful she is in her natural state,” Hunt said. “Continue to remind her that she doesn’t need to look like the TV or video portray women to look, that she can be simply be herself and have high self-esteem. For the young ladies, we want them to be empowered to love their natural self, just the way they are.”

Touched by Rayn salon owner Rayn Toussaint gave a tutorial to parents on ways to style their daughter’s natural hair.

“A lot of young ladies, especially African-American girls have natural hair and it’s sort of a battle. It’s a hard thing for parents if they are not educated on it. My job is to educate them on it, maintain healthy hair, which is the number one priority in my salon,” Toussaint said.

She added the event was in honor of the National Basketball Association superstar Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi and the end of the culmination of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Basketball tournament in Charlotte.  

“It made sense that we would tie all of it together and take time at the end of that and honor him, his daughter and his whole #girldad movement,” Toussaint said.

Trey Moore who attended the event with his three-year-old daughter Sallie said the event was special.

“My favorite part of the whole thing was seeing her smile and having a good time,” Moore said.

The event also served as a fundraiser for the organization.