What No-Shave November really means and how it came to be
For some around the world, No-Shave November really will be in accordance with what the members of the Chicagoland Hill family, the starters of the official charity organization, hope for, which is “a unique way to grow cancer awareness.”
No-Shave November has been a tradition for the eleventh month of the year for many years, but until the fall of 2009 it was only an activity of contest amongst men to determine who could grow out their facial hair throughout the month.
In 2009, members of the Chicagoland Hill family, Thomas, Abbey, Andrew, Christine, Theresa, Caitlin, Aaron, Monica, Nicholas, and Rebecca Hill, banded together after their father, Matthew Hill, passed away due to colon cancer in November 2007. They created the web-based, non-profit organization, No-Shave November, to raise awareness of cancer as well as raise funds to support cancer prevention. The funds go towards incredible research and providing free information and services to cancer patients and their caregivers.
The Hill family created No-Shave November as a way for those involved to give up shaving and grooming in order to strike up conversations about why they have decided to participate and educate the general public on their month-long endeavor. Participants donate all money usually spent on shaving and grooming hair—for example, razors, shaving cream and waxing materials—to the No-Shave November non-profit organization.
If one chooses to partake, an option of creating a personalized fundraising page through no-shave.org will arise. Creating this funding page, one will have the opportunity to get the word out about making more donations towards cancer research, as well as making information on cancer more known. If one may not be as motivated to completely stop shaving and grooming for a month, there will also be the opportunity to create an account through no-shave.org and donate to others who have stopped shaving for the cause. The record for highest donation was made by one anonymous user; they donated $11,875 to someone’s fundraising page. The typical donation is around $25. No matter the amount, all funds will go towards a good cause.
No-Shave November has partnered with Prevent Cancer Foundation, a cancer prevention foundation that focuses on the early detection of cancer and is only located in the U.S., Fight Colorectal Cancer, a community of activists fighting colorectal cancer until a cure has been found, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which treats and defeats childhood cancer among other life-threatening diseases. More information is obtainable through no-shave.org.