Movember raises money for men's health
Men around the world are grew mustaches during November.
Published Dec. 4, 2009
Movember is a month-long event that both celebrates the moustache and raises awareness on men's health issues.
"Movember is a fundraising effort throughout the month of November," said Ryan Morimura, Interfraternity Council public relations vice president. "It benefits men's health issues, specifically prostate cancer."
Morimura said throughout the month of November, men grow mustaches and when they are asked why he is growing a mustache, they can talk about Movember's fundraising efforts.
"The money goes to fund research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer," Morimura said.
According to its Web site, the Movember Foundation is a not-for-profit organization. Beginning with the 2009 campaign, the money raised will be donated evenly between the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Morimura said the men from the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity brought it to IFC's attention and several IFC men participated in Movember.
"This is an issue some of our fraternity men might deal with years in the future," Morimura said. "This event changes the face, a much younger one, of prostate cancer."
Morimura said Phi Kappa Theta President John Tate helped organize the event.
"We had speakers from the Wellness Resource Center that talked to us about different men's issues, including prostate cancer," Morimura said. "The men that talked to us from the Wellness Resource Center were Jesse Hirner and Kevin Bigham."
Hirner said he and Bigham talked about some of the other major health issues men face, such as heart disease, diabetes and living a healthy lifestyle, in addition to covering prostate and testicular cancer.
"It's important to start making the right choices and taking care of yourself now," Hirner said. "Your choices now are going to affect your health down the road. You have to pay attention to what you're doing to your body."
Morimura said Paul Castellano won IFC's Movember Man of the Month.
"Two men from the Wellness Resource Center and three men from the IFC executive board were judges," Morimura said. "He won $100 donated to his Movember account."
Mo Space is a personalized homepage on which participants can track donations, download information and invite others to join Movember, according to the Web site.
Morimura said IFC has money in its budget for an "IFC Man of the Month." IFC used the money from October and November to donate to Castellano's Movember Web site account.
According to its Web site, Movember raised $47 million globally for men's health issues since its beginnings in 2003 in Melbourne, Australia. It is the world's largest charity event for men.