With only a few days left in Movember, the Huntsville Lake of Bays (HLOB) Fire Department is hoping to hit a few more goals.
The initiative has men around the world grow out their moustaches through November to fundraise for the Movember Foundation, which benefits prostate and testicular cancer research, as well as men’s mental health programs.
“There’s a few staches around [the department], that’s for sure,” says Mike Vadlja, HLOB’s Fire Prevention Officer. “Some of the girls are doing their 60k runs, [and] they’ve pretty much got there by the looks of things. It’s all good, good team spirit.”
HLOBFD is currently fifth place in the Great Canadian Fire Challenge, which sees fire departments across the country in friendly competition over who can raise the most for the men’s health charity.
By the time of writing, HLOBFD has raised $10,265, just behind the fire services of Toronto and Brampton, two much larger departments. Vadlja has been sporting his moustache for 25 years. It’ll take $2,500 for him to shave it off.
“If they want to see the stache come off, they’re going to have to bump it up,” says Vadlja with a laugh.
He says like many participants, the cause is personal for him.
“It’s because [of] what it stands for. I believe they do good work, the money is used well,” says Vadlja. “Having some friends that went through some mental health issues, and cancer, they tackle all these things. It’s a good cause.”
If you’d like to help Vadlja and the department reach their goal, go to their team page on the Movember Foundation website.
We’re currently 5th out of 230 #firefighter teams across Canada for #Movember‘s Great Canadian Fire Challenge. We still have one goal & that’s to get FPO Vadlja to his $2,500 goal to shave his #moustache. Please help us get him there: https://t.co/hN6OKR1l9o#ThankYou #Muskoka pic.twitter.com/AyZVNlRKUk
— HLOB Fire Department (@HLOBfire) November 24, 2021