Sure, the economy may have you down, and fundraising for anything these days may seem like a daunting task, but don't forget to have a little fun with it. Earlier this month, my husband's colleague, a self-proclaimed "Mo Bro" (a.k.a. Charlie), sent around an email to friends and family, asking for their support as he set off to grow a little facial hair.
Why you might ask? Because the month formerly known as November has turned into...you guessed it, "Mo-vember" for thousands of men across the country and around the world. But it's not all fun and games. So why the extreme behavior?
According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation -- and sole beneficiary of funds raised during Movember -- prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the US with one in six American men developing the disease and more than 28,000 men dying from it every year.
Men lack awareness about the very real health issues they face and are reluctant to see a doctor about an illness or to go for regular medical check ups. So, the aim of Movember is to change these attitudes and make men's health fun by putting the Mo back on the face of American men while raising some serious funds for the number one men's health issue, prostate cancer.
And, they're doing it in an incredibly "socially citizeny" way. The folks at Movember are making great use of social networking to create individual "mospace" pages that enable Mo-bro's to not only document their growth, but to share their pics and stories with their donors and allow their fans to contribute online.
But that has also translated to offline engagement. As Charlie explained, "I have heard some incredible stories from complete strangers that I would have never heard if they hadn't come up to me and asked what's up with my moustache." You can also find out a whole lot more about Movember on this well-done YouTube Video.
To Charlie and all the other Mo Bro's (and yes, Mo Sista's) out there: Thanks for changing the face of men's health. And, if you see other creative fundraisers out there -- let us know about it here on the blog, or tweet them. Which is also a subtle plug for all you "tweeters" to start following us on Twitter.