EDITOR’S NOTE: Ladies, the Tribune-Post wants to hear your input on all the hairy lips that have sprung up this month. What are your thoughts on moustaches in general? Are they sexy, stunning . . .? Use the comment form at the bottom of this article to share your opinion.
Submitted by
Graeme Stewart
November is Movember month! For these 30 days in countries around the world, in rapidly increasing numbers, men are growing their moustaches to enable prostate cancer research and treatment and to support other men’s health programs.
Many local men are among this number and you will recognize them on all sides of you as the November calendar lengthens. Sackville’s fire department and the medical staff at SMH are doing their part, but so are others. By all means, when the next passerby with a newish moustache appears, ask him if the new growth is supporting Movember and take the time to enquire why.
One of the principal goals of the Movember movement is to promote discussion about men’s health issues, so ask away.
The Movember website is the main portal for fundraising. All you really need to do is to type “movember” into your Google search bar and the site (Movember and Sons Canada) will come up. On the main page you will see a search utility to find an individual or group who is/are helping by growing their “stache”. In the case of the Sackville medical staff, that group would be Hairy Docs United, but you can search anyone by their individual name as well. From there, just feel free to drop a few dollars and your part is done.
Although the Movember movement started in Australia it has become a word-wide phenomenon. Globally, almost a million Mo Bros and Sistas involved themselves in this event last year. In the US, this campaign is just starting to take off, so watch for the numbers to grow over the next few years.
The Canadian statistics are impressive. In our country alone almost $50 million was raised in 2011 and this represented about 40 per cent of the worldwide total. Canadian men (and women) have embraced this initiative big time.
How the funds raised by Movember are distributed is worthy of mention. Many reputable and worthwhile charities spend up to a quarter of monies raised on the cost of fundraising itself and for administration. Movember has a non-profit corporate structure and spends just six per cent on administration and fundraising. The remainder is directly spent on program funding: about 60 per cent on prostate cancer and 40 per cent on men’s mental health.
For those readers who are anguished by the sudden appearance lately of all these furry philtrums, then take heart – only a few more days. We should start seeing a lot more trim and tidy facial acreage on Dec. 1! In the meantime enjoy the show and feel free to contribute.
Answers: 1. Dr. Cory Long, 2. Albert Einstein, 3. Hulk Hogan, 4. Dr. Allison Dysart, 5. Friedrich Nietzsche, 6. Dr. Graeme Stewart, 7. Tom Selleck, 8. Dr. Harold Popma.
