Carly: Movember

Movember, No-shave November, the month that every girlfriend dreads. Whatever you call it, it has become a world-wide phenomenon. For years now, Mustachio’d men (and women!) have been helping to change the face of men’s health, and are having a great time doing it.

I first encountered Movember when I was studying abroad in Australia. I thought it was laughable that the guys in my dorm were looking for money just for growing a mustache. Totally ridiculous, amirite? However, after catching on that it was a philanthropic endeavor, and not just a pissing-contest, I was entirely on board.
I wasn’t sure exactly when Movember became more than just a gesture to irk significant others, so I did some digging. Turns out, it officially started in 2003 in Melbourne, Australia by a group determined to bring back the moustache as a fashion item. (Huzzah!) The following year, the Movember Foundation became associated with raising funds for prostate cancer and managed to raise an impressive AU$55,000 on behalf of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. The Movember Foundation is now affiliated with the Livestrong Foundation as well as the Prostate Cancer Foundation and supports all aspects of men’s health.This is my second year participating in Movember, and despite being follicly-challenged on my upper lip, I still manage to raise the dollars. One of the (many) cool things about The Movember Foundation is that they will help you out with your fundraising. Our team, The Fu-man group, decided to throw a ‘Stache Bash this year to raise funds, and the kind folks at Movember sent us a free party pack to help us out. This party pack included a whole slew of goodies; including Movember bracelets, donation boxes, posters, mustache grooming guides, stickers, buttons and most importantly prizes for the mustache contest!So I know that you must be wondering what you need (in addition to the awesome Movember party pack) to throw your own successful ‘Stache Bash. Let me fill you in:

• Most importantly, willing participants! You need friends, lovers, coworkers and strangers to show up (hopefully with a ‘stache) and throw a few bucks into the donation box. After all, protecting prostates isn’t cheap, people!
• Second, you need all kinds of mustaches for those that didn’t have time to grow their own or are incapable of doing so. Milk mustaches, finger mustaches, fake mustaches, anything will work.
• A killer playlist. Once people see how ridiculously good-looking they are with their mustaches, they’re going to want to DANCE!
• Prizes for your mustache contest winners. They might be satisfied to bask in the glory of knowing that they hold the title of “Miss Movember” or “Man of Movember”, but you might want to get them a little something extra for their trouble. (See the picture of our winners and note the cute water bottles Laura designed.)

So while the money has been raised, the titles handed out to Mr. and Miss Movember and the ‘staches shaved; fear not, for Movember will be upon us again sooner than you think. I hope you join us next year and don a mustache to help support men’s health. After all, why should the boobs get all the attention?