Six-year-old Kamden Cunningham’s hairstyle was born when his older brother Karson decided to play barber with a pair of nose hair trimming scissors.
“It was a mess,” recalled their mother, Kelsey Cunningham. “We took him to a barber, and he picked out his hairstyle. He didn't want to cut the curls off so he ended up picking a mullet.”
Not long after that, he won third place in the 2023 USA Mullet Championships as “The Kammander.”
He encouraged his dad Brendan Cunningham to grow a mullet, too, and they entered the competition together this year. The father and son are both in the top 25 of their age groups, with voting open until August 21.
“We’re competing with each other, but we figured it’d be cool to see if we can get a father-son duo to the top this year,” Brendan Cunningham’s bio reads. “This mane may have only been established in October of 2023, but it’s packin’ heat and is a force to be reckoned with.”
The “celebration of America’s most iconic hairstyle” raises funds for Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Warriors. The organization builds homes for critically injured veterans.
“My late stepfather, he was a veteran who actually Kamden is named after, so his middle name is Jack, named after my stepfather,” Kelsey said. “And it's kind of funny, because he said he wants to be a fireman when he grows up, which my stepfather was, and he was Captain Jack… Also his other grandfather, my husband's dad, is an Army veteran.”
Kamden raised nearly $9,000 for the cause last year.
“He loves helping people,” Kelsey said. “In the beginning of the year, he had the opportunity to drop the puck at the Penguins game. So he used that as an opportunity to raise money for a local veterans group.”
Kamden was the guest of honor at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders game August 15, and threw the ceremonial first pitch.
"His football team canceled practice just so they can be there in support of him, and then some of his baseball teammates showed up," Kelsey said. "It was a nice little thing that the town came together."
"The Kammander's Last Conquest," a community event held August 17 at Roosevelt Field in Swoyersville, raised money for the cause. Kelsey was amazed at the donations they received for the raffle.
"I called my husband crying," she said. "A 32-inch gaming monitor, drone, things that I wouldn't normally expect somebody to donate."
August 19 was proclaimed Kamden Cunningham Day in Swoyersville in recognition of his work to raise money for an important cause. He was given a key to the city and a proclamation.
Voting in round 3 continues until August 21, and the winners will be announced August 28.
