Lee’s upper lip is raising awareness about prostate cancer.

Movember moustaches crash campuses, crush cancer

When Clifford Lee, a University of King's College student, saw six other men at the Alehouse on Saturday sporting moustaches similar to his own, he nodded at them and said, "Movember." They nodded back.

Men on campuses in Halifax are sporting two weeks' worth of growth on their upper lips as part of a global effort to raise funds for prostate cancer research, and awareness about the disease along with other men's health issues.

The month-long event's name is a combination of "moustache" and "November".

"It's reclaiming the moustache from mockery and notoriety," Lee said before a fundraising party in the Wardroom on Monday.

Video

Dalhousie MBA students explain why they are participating in Movember. Video: Joshua Brown

Lee recruited about 20 other King's students, known as MoBrothers and MoSisters, to participate in the now flashy and popular fundraiser. The King's Students' Union has also joined Lee's effort to help co-ordinate events.

In 2003, men in Melbourne, Australia, thought of the idea while drinking beer. At first they used the fundraiser as an excuse to grow "mos" -- Aussie slang for a moustache. Six years later, there are participants in Canada, the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and countries across Europe.

On Dalhousie University campus, Movember moustaches are even more rife than at King's. Nearly 40 students and faculty in the MBA program are growing hair gardens on their upper lips with a goal of $2,011 -- the same number as their graduating year. Half way through the month, they have already raised $2,020. Fundraising organizer for the MBA program, Jeff Pond, said the class could easily double that number by the end of Movember.

"I did it last year and I raised a couple hundred dollars," Pond, 24, said.
"Now that I'm in a program with a pretty close community, I figured I wanted to start something we could actually work towards. I started up the team, registered and then sent out links to everyone in the class. The support was actually overwhelming. I think we have almost every guy in the program participating."

"To raise money for a worthy cause, it's really the easiest thing to do," Pond said. "You grow a little facial hair and it's not really any harm to you."

"My grandfather had prostate cancer, and he was pretty much a role model of mine," McKenzie Willson, 22, said. "I also think that it's an excuse to grow a stupid moustache."
Prostate cancer affects one in five men, Lee said.

"It's a very serious illness. It's a very common affliction that can occur ... I know plenty of men who have been diagnosed with it."

The Movember Canada campaign website describes prostate cancer as "highly curable if detected and treated early." Unfortunately, the website explains, many men don't get checked. Lee said Movember serves to remove the "off-putting" stigma surrounding prostate cancer.

So far, Lee says he has raised $50, though his registered team has raised only $20, according to the website. By the end of the month, Lee said, "I'm hoping we'll have a lot of thick moustaches. I'm hoping to raise a good amount of money. But mostly it's setting the bar, ‘cause it's our first year here at King's. Hopefully next year it will take off and be a very popular thing."

Lee will proudly stroke his ‘stache at two more fundraising events at King's - one at the Wardroom Nov. 23 and a final gala event on Nov. 30. Proceeds will be donated to Prostate Cancer Canada.

So far MoBrothers and MoSisters across Canada have raised $3.3 million.

"I hope more men become aware of prostate cancer because of it," Lee said of the King's fundraiser.

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