Movember.

« Movember », Moustache & Prostate Cancer

fromVoice of America News:  Transcript

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In this ice rink, outside Washington, the members of the city’s professional ice hockey team “the Capitals, are practicing. If you look at their faces you can see that about a dozen of them have something in common: a moustache.

They are among more than 1 million around the world who started growing moustaches in November.

Mathieu Perreault (professional hockey player): “People may laugh at you because you look funny but I don’t mind doing it. I’ve been doing it for the past few years and it’s fun to do. I think it’s just a great cause.”

Mathieu Perreault and his team members are participating in “Movember”: it’s a month-long campaign that enlists men to grow moustaches to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, especially prostate cancer.

Mark Kirwan, a restaurant owner in Arlington, Virginia, says his moustache is a conversation starter with the customers. “The main reason that I ..., myself in the staff at Beck is participating in Movember is very personal to me for being a family who are cancer free for all our lives; and 3 of our family members have developed cancer in the last year.”

“Movember” started as a small campaign in Australia in 2004. Since then, it has grown into a global movement and raised more than 170 million dollars for cancer research, education and survivorship programs.

Donny Killian is a US country manager: “1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, so they are very comparable to women’s stats.”

Movember’s participants are called “Mo-bros” (Mo is Australian slang for moustache). There are also Mo-sisters: women who support the cause.

Janet Ciciarelli got involved because her husband is participating. “Part of my personal battle is to be seen in public with him with a moustache for the month of November. But we also raise awareness and raise money through our Facebook pages and Twitter.”

Supporters engage in creative attention getting activities such as competition for donations.

Luke Rosa is a teacher at Falls ChurchHigh School in Virginia which has 21 mo-bros, including both teachers and students. “Each week, we put up updated pictures on the board and students vote by putting their spare change into the box for whichever teacher they feel has grown the best moustache over that week.”