Mishall RehmanThe Lampshade, the Dali, the Handlebar, all are types of moustaches that start to pop up as soon as November rolls around for the “Movember” campaign. Though Movember is characterized by quirky moustaches, it is first and foremost a campaign to bring awareness to men’s health.
Launched in 2003 by two friends, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery, in Australia, the Movember Foundation focuses on key men’s health issues like Prostate Cancer, Testicular Cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity. Starting from a group of 30 men in Australia the first year, the campaign is now worldwide. Since 2003, it has raised $677 million and funded over 1,000 projects.
Though visible in November, the organization works year round with global men’s health partners and academic and clinical intuitions to promote men’s health and make sure the money raised is being put to good use.
Though the CAF does not officially participate in Movember as an organization, many individuals and individual units, take part, one of these units being the Technical Services Branch at 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown, led by Chief Warrant Officer Eric Bouffard.
Bouffard himself was taking part for a third year in a row. He was first inspired to take part because of an uncle he had lost to Prostate Cancer ten years ago.
He brought the idea to his unit and by charging $10 for every member wanting to grow out a moustache, the unit raised $240.
Bouffard laughs that he gets mixed reactions when growing out his moustache. In particular, he jokes his wife is not too fond of his moustache saying “she can’t wait until tonight and have me take it off.”
The unit held competitions to see who had the best moustache and who had the cheesiest. The pictures of the winners of both these competitions will circulate the unit.
All jokes aside, Bouffard believes taking part in Movember is an easy way to raise funds for a good cause.
“It’s something every man can do, grow a mustache whether it’s nice or not nice, everyone can do it. It’s a great way to raise money for a cause that’s for every man. Every single one of us could have prostate or testicular cancer,” said Bouffard.
The final numbers for this year’s worldwide fundraising campaign aren’t in yet, but an estimated count for this year’s collection is close to $55,382,829 worldwide. Canada ranks third, behind the U.S. and Australia, raising $13,018,103.
