When Squamish beermeister Jeff Oldenborger decided to get on the Movember bandwagon, he turned to a colleague in the burgeoning Sea-to-Sky beer community.
The Movember Foundation raises funds and awareness for men's health throughout the year, but its most visible campaign encourages men to quit shaving their upper lip during the month "formerly known as November."
Oldenborger, co-owner of A-Frame Brewing Company, wanted to motivate his team to join the campaign but he also wanted to expand the reach beyond his staff. So he tapped Malcolm Yates, the blogger behind SeaToSkyBeerGuy.com, who agreed to become the community ambassador for the A-Frame team.
"He thought maybe I would be made of the right stuff to get the message out there," says Yates. "I told him I was absolutely not worthy of it but I would do my darnedest."
Yates' best friend had gone through cancer and, while he is thankfully in remission, the brush really hit home for Yates about just how indiscriminate cancer is.
"Everyone's got stories of how friends or family or themselves have had to battle and so the cancer thing was right up front," he says. "But the thing that kind of got me when I was looking at the Movember page was the mental health issues."
The Movember Foundation is now a global movement that operates its own programs and also funds the work of partner agencies working in the areas of testicular and prostate cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.
According to the foundation, one in 13 Canadian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their life. Among men aged 15 to 35, the most common cancer is testicular. And one in five Canadians will experience a mental health problem during their lifetime. In Canada, on average, eight men take their own lives every day.
"I thought shining the light on the mental health aspect of it could only be positive," Yates says. "The more we talk about it, the less scary it becomes and the more, hopefully, people can deal with it."
The A-Frame team has about 16 members but, in his own case, Yates emphasizes that this is one of the instances where it's the thought that counts more than the physical effects.
"The moustache is awful," he says. "The only person in my family who likes it is my daughter but thankfully she carries a lot of sway.… We may get outvoted by my beautiful wife, who has the final say in all things facial hair."
Since 2003, the foundation has attracted five million supporters around the world and helped to fund 1,200 innovative men's health projects in 21 countries.
The strategy is fun and straightforward. Participants are encouraged to do at least one of three things: "Grow a 'mo! Save a bro!" Move — walk, run, cycle, swim, row to raise funds. Or host — throw or attend a Movember event.
The A-Frame Brewing Movember team is online at https://ca.movember.com/team/2286631.
