James Elrick, PR Specialist
November 2010 saw a change come over five employees at the Ottawa FreeBalance office. They stopped shaving their moustaches. They did it for “Movember” (a combination of ‘Mo’ – a nickname for moustache in Australia – and November). Movember is an annual fundraising and awareness campaign for prostate cancer.
Here’s the event overview from the Movember website:
“Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month. The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for prostate cancer. Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days.
The idea for Movember was sparked in 2003 over a few beers in Melbourne, Australia. The plan was simple – to bring the moustache back as a bit of a joke and do something for men’s health. No money was raised in 2003, but the guys behind the Mo realized the potential a moustache had in generating conversations about men’s health. Inspired by the women around them and all they had done for breast cancer, the Mo Bros set themselves on a course to create a global men’s health movement.
In 2004 the campaign evolved and focused on raising awareness and funds for the number one cancer affecting men – prostate cancer. 432 Mo Bros joined the movement that year, raising $55,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia – representing the single largest donation they had ever received.
The Movember moustache has continued to grow year after year, expanding to Canada, the US, UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands and Finland.”
In 2010, Canada placed second to Australia. Over 118,908 men registered in Canada for Movember and raised a total of $21,593,707. Australia was the clear winner with $22,011,873. We look forward to a rematch at Movember 2011.
FreeBalance participates in many fundraising and local activities during the year. 2010 saw FreeBalance participate in the first annual World Read Aloud Day. And on in October 2010, FreeBalance employees from around the world took up the 5K Challenge to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. FreeBalance has a worldwide presence with offices around the globe, employing local people. This offers FreeBalance a unique opportunity to become involved in a country’s local community when participating in these worldwide events.