I mustache you to join my cause

It seems I’m a sucker for hair-related charities.

I’ve decided, for the first time, to participate in the Movember Foundation’s month-long campaign to raise money for men’s health issues.

How am I doing it? I’m growing a mustache.

“But Alex,” you’re probably thinking to yourself, “you already have such a thick and luscious goatee? How can you grow a mustache?”

It’s true. As long as I’ve been at the Herald, I’ve had this goatee. My upper lip and chin haven’t seen the light of the sun in years. But for a good cause, I’m shaving it all off.

I started clean-shaven on Nov. 1, and will grow a mustache for the rest of the month. In all likelihood, I’ll promptly get rid of it on Dec. 1. But for the month of November, I, and millions of other men across the country, will be mustachioed.

What is the Movember Foundation? Besides a clever play on words, it’s a charity that funds research into men’s health issues, like prostate and testicular cancer, as well as mental health.

Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer among men in the United States. According to the National Cancer Center, it is estimated that 220,800 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and 27,540 will die from it.

And testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men 18-34. The National Cancer Center estimates that 8,430 men will be diagnosed with it this year, and 380 will die from it.

Mental health issues are different for men sometimes as well. Though women are three times as likely as men to attempt suicide, according to the CDC, men are four times as likely to be successful. More than three quarters of all suicides in the U.S. are men.

But it’s not just a problem for men: depression affects about a quarter of American adults every year. Research into the cause and treatment of depression, as well as any kind of cancer, benefits everyone.

So I’m growing a mustache, and some of my colleagues here at the Herald are joining me. We’re trying to raise awareness as well as money.

You should get involved, too! Growing a mustache is something that any guy can do. It doesn’t matter if you think you’ll look ridiculous with one (like I think I will), because it’s for a great cause. It’s more important than how you look with that caterpillar on your lip.

You can go to www.movember.com to sign up or to make a donation. Try to get a group together and grow mustaches with your friends. Name them, write ballads about them, paint murals of them — just help! Every bit counts.

We want you to get involved, too. So at the end of the month, email me pictures of your Movember Mustaches, and we can put you in the paper. Let everyone see what you look like with your ’stache flag flying.

So join the movement and, if you’d like, you can even join Team Herald by going to https://us.movember.com/team/2094697. We’d love to have you!