More than 300,000 men and women around the world raised funds and awareness for men's health with the Movember Foundation

Over 55 thousand Canadians signed up to join the fight to stop men dying too young  

TORONTO, Dec. 13, 2017 /CNW/ - The Movember Foundation, the only global charity focused solely on men's health, has announced the conclusion of the 2017 moustache-growing campaign. Movember had a successful moustachio'd year, with over 55 thousand Mo Bro and Mo Sista participants and 250 thousand donations in Canada. The Movember community has once again shone a light on the importance of men's health by starting conversations about testicular cancer, prostate cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.

The Foundation runs awareness and fundraising activities year-round, with the annual Movember campaign in November being globally recognized for its fun and innovative approach to raising money and getting men to take action for their health.

"The Movember Foundation is extremely thankful for our dedicated community of Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who helped make our 10^th year a successful one," says Ken Aucoin, Canadian country director for Movember. "From moustaches to Move challenges, it was another great season of raising funds and having important conversations about men's health. Although the campaign is only one month-long, the Movember Foundation works tirelessly year-round to fund innovative men's health projects and raise awareness to stop men dying too young."

To help spread awareness and raise funds this month, our dedicated community activated in cities across the country with unique and hairy ways to get talking about men's health. Some highlights include:

Movember and Hockey
We kicked off Movember 1^st with a presence at hockey games in Vancouver and Edmonton. With the help of our awesome Movember Committee members and survivors in both cities, we brought our "Life without the men we love" activation to life during the game by placing cards with the Mo1 creative on the stadium seats and having our Mo Community fill the seats throughout the game, representing how Movember is saving lives and keeping men around to experience key moments in their lives.

Handle Bar Hockey: A 24hr Hockey Tournament
We saw some amazing fundraising in Fort McMurray for the Handle Bar Hockey 24-hour tournament. Teams competed while raising funds for Movember, ending the tournament with over 20K in donations

Movember 10 Year Birthday Party
This year marked 10 years of moustaches in Canada. To celebrate, we a held a 10-year Birthday Bash, with Mo's old and new stopping by the Movember House in Toronto to have some fun on this momentous occasion. From party hat decorating, to live ice-sculpting, a 3-tier birthday cake, a magician, and of course, a good ole' dance party, it was a great way to celebrate ten years of raising funds and awareness for men's health in Canada.

24 Hour bench press-a-thon
In the spirit of Movember, Man Up for Mental Health hosted "Lift Off", a bench-press-a-thon fundraiser to close off the month. Participants signed up to bench press 5 million pounds over 2 days to raise funds for Movember. Man Up for Mental Health is a student run organization with goals of promoting mental health on campus with a focus on male-identified individuals, safe substance use, and connecting students.  

Santa Shave Down
On the last day of Movember, Santa showed his support for men's health by shaving down his big white beard into a moustache. As an elderly gentleman, Santa knows how important it is to take care of his health. To help us spread awareness and as a last push for our campaign, we headed over to our friends at OGX barbers for a nice, clean shave down. Personally, we think he looks better with a moustache.

Hairy Facts
We polled our community and found some interesting facts about our Mo Bros and Mo Sistas. When asked how they feel about moustaches, 66% of females either love the look of a moustache, or love what it stands for. When it comes to their Move challenges, 42% voted for walking, with rowing and swimming being the least common option. Lastly, the most common moustache we saw was the salt and pepper mo, at 32%.

Although the month of Movember is over, it isn't too late to get involved. Be the difference and donate at Movember.com, or give the gift of men's health this holiday season by purchasing products from the Movember Foundation's Movember Collection, in which 100% of proceeds benefit the Foundation. Shop here!

About the Movember Foundation
The Movember Foundation is the only global charity focused solely on men's health, funding over 1,200 innovative projects across 21 countries. To date, the Foundation has created a men's health movement of over 5 million people supporting these critical areas: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. But our work is not done. Be the difference and go to Movember.com to donate or participate. Together we can stop men dying too young.

SOURCE Movember Foundation

Cassie Tatone, Movember Foundation, 647-993-7392, [email protected]