BY EMANUEL GEORGE
We all know what comes after October, right? Movember! ‘Tis the season to raise men’s mental health awareness and help prevent prostate and testicular cancer.
Sheridan is participating in Movember this year with a month-long Battle of the Bars event. The Trafalgar Campus Marquee and Davis Campus Den are competing to see which bar can raise more money for Movember.
“This year, what we have done with each recipe is we have named the burger after famous mustachioed character or celebrity,” said Dan Casey, SSU senior manager of operations. “Our staff comes up with the recipes, one-off sort of features that we do. What we do is donate a dollar off of every one of the feature burger sold over the month for Movember. We have a bit of friendly competition between the two pubs to see which pub raises the most money.”
Sheridan bars have been participating in Movember with feature burgers for three years now. This will be the second year for Battle of the Bars.
“This is kind of our way of doing our part. It has touched some of us at different levels, affecting family and friends. It’s a good campaign to bring awareness to some of the issues that are affecting men.”
Fundraising isn’t the only way to help the cause though. A large part of the campaign is just about raising awareness of men’s health issues and changing the way we perceive them. With the various unique and simple ways of participating in the campaign, it is able to reach a much wider audience.
“I definitely feel that people can feel a little afraid to bring up men’s health awareness when people bring up men’s health in this climate,” said Wychita Hendricks, Sheridan Musical Theatre student. “Movember is more about trying to get people involved. It’s very inclusive and I think that’s what makes it so popular even if you can’t grow a mustache you have things like no shave Movember where women don’t shave their legs for the month. And that’s just as good because you get people, and that almost raises more awareness. People are like great, he has some scratchy mustache but they are doing it for Movember. Let’s look that up and see what it’s about.”
Sheridan Staches
Movember is a not-for-profit organization started back in 2003 in an Australian Pub. The goal was simply to change the face of men’s health by growing a mustache. Individuals and teams can fundraise through the act of growing a mustache and not shaving throughout the month to help sponsor different men’s health projects and support organizations like Prostate Cancer Canada.
The fight to help raise awareness of the men’s mental health crisis and prevent prostate and testicular cancer is never over though. With Movember officially underway this year there are tons of ways to participate and join in the cause.
One way is growing a mustache and getting friends and family to sponsor your growth. Another way to participate in fundraising is to pledge to run 60 km this month. The 60 km represents the 60 men we lose to suicide every hour.
There are also a large variety of events and fundraising activities to participate in this month like bowling nights, bar meetups, marathons, gaming tournaments, hockey games and more. For a full list of events happening this month visit Movember events.
