Dig Magazine

Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: Cover Story

Adam Garone, founder of Movember

The rules of Movember

He begins the first of the month, clean-shaven and smooth. The clerk at the local liquor store even takes notice of his baby-face and takes a second look at his ID when he tries to pick up a six-pack.

At the end of the first week his upper lip has sprouted what vaguely resembles hair, but looks more like those tiny fragments of lint one would quickly brush off of their favorite black shirt. Like the beginning stages of a Chia-Pet you bought while they were sitting on the clearance rack of the local drug store.

With proper grooming and a little more growing, the end of the second week has welcomed an upper lip full of hair as well as bits and pieces of food and residue from the last few drinks consumed.

The end of the third week is approaching and a full-grown mustache is in place. It's grown a style of its own, a mind all its own and has put a little more skip in its owner's step, like that of a proud parent overseeing a grow¬ing caterpillar. On a face.

As the month ends, the mustache has transformed the man. No, he is not your creepy uncle Sylvester who drives that windowless white van, he is a man of Movember, like a rejected cast member of the Justice League who's power is to grow disproportionate facial hair, on a mission to help fight prostate and testicular cancer. One mustache at a time.

November has now become Movember all around the globe, a month long celebration of awkward facial hair growth all in the name of charity and raising awareness about prostate cancer, one of the most common forms of cancer, targeting 1 in 6 men. Mustaches are no longer irritating facial hair, but a symbol for men's health and awareness.

"We wanted to bring back the 'Mo,'" said Adam Garone CEO and founder of Movember. "It had a big turnout [our first year] so we decided that the following year we would raise money for charity while growing our mus¬taches to legitimize it. It's like when someone runs a race for a cause, only we grow mustaches."
What started in 2003 as fun among 'mates' in Melbourne, Australia, has led to what is now the largest charity in support of prostate can¬cer research in the world.

"Men become a walking billboard for awareness," says Garone. "We get men to start clean shaven and grow a mustache for the month, people wonder why they're grow¬ing it and it sparks conversation."

Those conversations have turned in to huge amounts of fundrais¬ing for the organization. So far, Movember has raised over $47 mil¬lion worldwide for research that in¬cludes three new vaccine programs as well as 12 new medicines going to clinical trials.

"We're not looking for a specific amount of money to raise," says Garone. "What is more meaning¬ful is that we're saving peoples lives by raising awareness of men's health issues because they have always been something so taboo to talk about."

According to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation, though 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, only 1 in 34 men will die from cancer, meaning that early detection of the disease is extremely important in both the prevention of the cancer from spreading to the rest of the body and treating the cancer. But because of the recession in the US, government funding for prostate cancer research is on the long list of things that are being trimmed from the budget. This is where the huge amount of independent fundraising that Movember has compiled throughout the years really comes through, and because of that fundraising Movember has enabled continued research of prostate cancer, and twenty-thousand men with prostate cancer have their cases being researched with the money given by Movember.

According to Garone, the number of registered participants of Movember has more than doubled since last year. This year, Movember has partnered with The Lance Armstrong Foundation and part of the funds raised will also benefit research and sup¬port for those with testicular cancer.

The Livestrong Young Alliance program focuses on improving the survival rates of young adults with cancer between the ages of 15 and 40, as well focusing on their quality of life.

"Most of the men who participate in Movember are between the ages 18-35, testicular cancer is the most common cancer among men between these ages," said Garone.

The Movember foundation has now begun working with many colleges and fraternities including Cal State Long Beach to help spread the word.

Ladies can get involved as well and become a 'Mo Sista'. No, that doesn't mean you having to skip a month of waxing and grow a mustache, but it does mean being supportive of their 'Mo Bros' by helping raise funds and awareness.

At the end of Movember, 'Mo Bros' and 'Mo Sistas' attend Gala Parties where they celebrate their Movember journey in com¬plete attire that suits their mo or their man's mo best.

This year's Gala Party will be held at Avalon in Los Angeles and tickets are $10. There, prizes will be given for Man of Movember, as well as Miss Movember and many other titles. People can get involved by visiting the Movember Foundation website and registering or donating at www.Movember.com

For the month of Movember, mustaches are back and changing the face of men's health.

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