The Movember Foundation
A large number of beards, mustaches, goatees, and whiskers of all shapes and sizes seem to appear in the month of November. You may have thought there was a shortage of razors at your local drug store or the men in your community were suddenly channeling their inner Forrest Gump. If not, then you’re probably familiar with Movember. Movember is a movement started by the Movember Foundation. This organization works to raise awareness and prevent some of the biggest health issues faced by men: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, depression, and suicide. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men ages 15-34. Additionally, 1 in 4 adults in the United States will experience a mental health problem in a given year. By the year 2030, the Movember Foundation hopes to reduce the number of premature deaths of young men by 25%.
Grow Your Mo
In an effort to support this worthy cause, we challenged the gentlemen of ICSI to ‘grow their mo’ and participate in the Movember movement. As 90% of our ICSI employees are male, we felt this was a great way to engage our team in something meaningful while raising awareness on some very important men’s health issues.
As more continued to join the Movember challenge, we decided to add a fun twist. With their blessing, the ICSI leaders allowed us to create images of them sporting famous facial hair (ex. Willie Nelson). We sent out a survey to the ICSI team challenging them to vote on the best photo. If over 100 people took the survey, the ICSI leaders agreed to grow their mo too! Needless to say, the survey response goal was reached in less than 48 hours.
The men of ICSI weren’t the only ones who got to join in the Movember festivities. We also hosted a ‘Beers for Beards & Wine for Whiskers’ happy hour for all to enjoy. Stick-on mustaches were provided for the ladies and any gents struggling to grow some stubble. The gathering was a success and most had their five o’clock shadow by four o’clock!
Movember Hall of Fame
As Movember 2016 came to a close, we held a competition in the following categories: Better Luck Next Year, Ready For Winter, Best Mustache, Great Goatee, Overall Best Facial Hair. We also captured the highlights of our Movember challenge in a video created by our own Dennis Hammel! A big thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Movember movement.
We are proud to support the Movember Foundation’s mission and help raise awareness of men’s health issues. With a large number of male employees at Interstates, we feel this is a worthy cause to join. In addition to our efforts in the month of November, we will continue to support this cause by keeping our employees informed on men’s health issues throughout the year.
Have you joined the Movember movement?
