Pemberton Secondary School, and a few other places of work, is pretty hairy these days with people sporting as big a moustache as they can all in the name of Movember.
"The kids think it's pretty funny with all these moustaches around, even the principal is rocking a sweet set of handlebars," said PSS teacher Daryl Treadway who has captained the effort not just with staff but also with students.
"While they (students) are not necessarily in the age group where prostate cancer is prevalent, they realize it's for a good cause".
But this week the "hair raising" venture comes to a close with the global Movember fundraising effort reaching for the razor.
According to Movember's global summary, at the time of publication Canada's national total was estimated at over $31 million CDN from 244,354 registrations. The closest national total was Australia at $19.7 million CDN with 141,360 registrations.
Locally, the "Movember in Whistler" network managed to raise $8,832. The team with the highest funds raised was Canadian Snowmobile with $3,783 followed by Tourism Whistler with $1,410.
"It's a really great cause," said Josh Livermore, operations manager at Canadian Snowmobile Adventures and captain of the CSA Movember team. "Almost everyone has had a family member affected by cancer or knows someone who's been affected," he said. Livermore lost his grandfather to cancer in 2000.
Whistler resident Barry Burko managed to raise over $7,160 himself by the "moethod" he described as "coercion." Burko was ranked as the 51st highest fundraiser in all of Canada at the time of publication.
While the fundraising has been extremely successful, the most important part of Movember has been raising awareness. By nature, men are far less likely to visit the doctor than women and as a result, their health can suffer.
"Men don't live as long as women do," said Dr. Paul Martiquet, the chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health.
"Part of the reason is men are reluctant to go see their family doctor until their condition is at such a point where prevention can not take place".
Martiquet says men can be convinced to go see a doctor; all they need is a bit of prompting. "The evidence is showing that married men are living longer, because their spouses make them go get a checkup for what men may perceive as a minor ailment, such as chest pain, which could turn out to be quite serious," he said.
"It's important that young men start to have good health habits early, but it's the older age groups that are more prone to health problems."
Of the $31 million dollars raised by the Movember Canada, 88 per cent will be allocated to Prostate Cancer Canada programs and men's health awareness and education.
The remaining 12 per cent will go towards administrative and fundraising costs. The Movember Foundation states that this is below the international standard for best practice for charities, which averages 15-25 per cent. Movember's global financials are audited every year by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
