In honor of Men’s Health Awareness Month, the Office of Recreation and Wellness will host No Shave November Growing Games through the end of November, beginning with a kick-off event on Nov. 4 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Don Taft University Center Spine.
No Shave November is a movement based on an online non-profit organization. According to the No Shave November website, No Shave November “is a month-long journey during which participants forgo shaving and grooming in order to evoke conversation and raise cancer awareness.”
Marcela Sandigo, associate director of programs at RecWell, said, “By growing your beard and by participating in this contest, we’re hoping to bring that same awareness [that breast cancer receives] to men’s health.”
While November is dedicated to men’s health as a whole, Sandigo said that No Shave November and the Growing Games are mostly dedicated to prostate cancer awareness.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the U.S., aside from non-melanoma skin cancer. Their website states that over 177,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States in 2012, and over 27,000 of those men died.
At the kick-off event, men will take a pledge to not shave for the rest of the month. RecWell staff will take a Polaroid picture of each participant and hang it on the RecWell bulletin board as “before” pictures for the contest.
T-shirts and food will be provided, and a physician and nutritionist from the student medical center will be available to provide information and answer questions regarding men’s health and prostate cancer.
“We always focus so much on October, which is for breast cancer awareness, and everyone’s familiar with it,” Sandigo said. “As of last year, we decided to focus on November and raising awareness for men’s health.”
In the Growing Games, male students will post pictures of their beards at the end of the month on social media using the hashtag #NSUNoShaveNovember. The winner will be selected based on who has the longest beard and announced as “King of the Stache.” They will receive a crown from RecWell.
Last year, over 100 students participated in the Growing Games, and Sandigo expects the same turnout this year.
For more information, contact RecWell at 954-262-7021.
