Movember

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One major health concern for men is prostate cancer, which takes about 30,000 men each year in the United States. In its early stages, prostate cancer can be cured, and fortunately, approximately 85% of men with prostate cancer are diagnosed in the early stages. However, prostate cancer that has spread beyond the prostate to distant tissues cannot be cured, but can often be controlled for many years due to advances in treatments. There are usually no symptoms of prostate cancer in its early stages, but 1 in 6 men will be affected by this disease. Screenings for the disease should begin at around age 40.

In 2003 in Melbourne, Australia, Adam Garone and his brothers were joking about 70's fashion, questioning "What happened to the mustache?" and vowing to bring it back. They soon came up with an idea to challenge men to grow mustaches for the 30 days of November to change the face of men's health. "Mo is slang for mustache, so we combined November with Mo and came up with Movember," stated Adam Garone, co-founder & CEO of Movember. "We originally challenged men to change their appearance by growing a mustache. When you have a mustache and you don't normally have one, the amount of conversations that happen daily about why you're doing it are quite amazing," added Garone.

Movember is now a global campaign that began in Australia and spread to New Zealand, the United Stated, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Island, South Africa, Finland, Denmark and Spain. All of the money raised in the US stays here and is donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation. According to Garone, Movember 2010 in the US will have 65,000 participants that will raise about 7.5 million dollars. Globally, 450,000 men will raise about 75 million dollars. Therefore, Movember is the biggest funder of prostate cancer research and support programs in the world.

Fire departments across the country and around the world are getting involved and supporting the movement. Firefighter Steve Baker with the Los Angeles Fire Department explained, "Firefighters are twice as likely as the normal population to come down with cancer. We knew that we could use some of our influence as firefighters to help raise some money."

Eighteen firefighters are participating from Station 4, with ten other fire stations involved with eighty other firefighters. "We have a friendly competition going on to see which fire station could raise the most money," said Firefighter Baker. Engineer Robert Dunivin, also with the Los Angeles Fire Department, claimed that a great way for people to help with Movember is by donating to Fire Station 4. These firefighters only grow their mustaches for Movember, and their team saying is "We might save your life someday, so this is your chance to donate and maybe save one of ours."

Another division of the fire service, the Los Angeles County Lifeguards, are also Mo-Bros and they are getting behind Movember as well. "I learned about Movember when I went down to Australia competing for a lifeguard team. It's a good excuse to try to grow a little luxury for your lip. This year my goal is to double the participation and double our fundraising. Local surf shops in the area are also doing a Movember challenge amongst the shops and there are a few guys that do paddle, and I see them out in the water because we are the guys with the ugly looking mustaches out there surfing," remarked Kyle Daniels, Ocean Lifeguard Specialist with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

This is the second year the lifeguards have participated. Last year, there were 10 lifeguards on Los Angeles County beaches with Movember mustaches. If you would like to support the Lifeguard's team, they are team "Sam Elliott's My Hero." Sam Elliott was the star in the movie The Lifeguard and his mustache was a great inspiration to the lifeguards, a smiling Daniels explained.

Garone stated, "You only need to look at October and all the great initiatives there are for breast cancer awareness and 30% more men are going to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than women are breast cancer. Our aim is to make the mustache our hairy ribbon, the pink ribbon equivalent for men's health and prostate cancer. This is a way for men to get engaged with their health and open up discussions around prostate cancer and men's health in general."

Women are also supporting Movember, either by signing up as team captains, by donating money, or by encouraging their male friends to participate.  Participants and teams each have their own page on the Movember website where donations can be made and progress photos are posted.


Author:Barbara Brooks - Video, Renee Marquart - Text