The organization contributed the majority of Concordia’s fundraising total
The JMSB philanthropy organization CASA Cares and their subsidiary JMoSB announced that their annual Movember campaign broke their previous fundraising records by raising $13,930 during their 2016 campaign.
Led by co-captains Catherine Doyle and Mikael Clement, JMoSB was one of four teams participating in Concordia’s Movember campaign. JMoSB contributed the majority of Concordia’s overall fundraising, with a total of $17,717- with six JMoSB students raising over $1,000 each.
Clement and Doyle, along with 10 JMoSB members and 33 volunteer fundraisers, raised money by collecting pledges from students who grew facial hair for the month of November. They also threw a public “Stache Bash” fundraising party which raised close to $2,000.
According to Clement, the 2016 fundraising total was more than twice as much as JMoSB’s last fundraising record. All proceeds will go to the Movember Foundation, a charity focused on men’s health issues, including testicular and prostate cancer, suicide prevention and destigmatizing the conversation surrounding men’s mental health.
“While the Movember cause is deadly serious, a lot of fundraisers have fun with Movember because it deals with growing facial hair,” Clement said, adding that the fun nature of the campaign contributed to its success. “We had one of our fundraisers raise hundreds of dollars from a donor who wanted the opportunity to choose his facial hair style. Everyone has their own fundraising methods and tricks so that people can have fun while making a difference.”
Clement added that, while facial hair is traditionally a major aspect of Movember fundraising, many donors and volunteers chose to spread awareness and raise money without it, and over half of 2016’s fundraisers were female.
In 2017, JMoSB is aiming to break its 2016’s record and continue increasing awareness about men’s health issues on campus.
Although the campaign is designed to be fun for participants, Clement said it’s important to remember the cause behind the campaign.
“If the fundraising by Movember can continue at this pace, by 2030 the number of men dying prematurely will diminish by 25 per cent,” said Clement. “[The Movember Foundation does] extensive research to find innovative health solutions to solve these long-standing problems… They have already had a significant impact on the crisis worldwide.”
