Three students from Kwantlen Polytechnic University have come up with a new way of contributing to the Movember movement – the anti-cancer initiative that encourages men to grow mustache in the month of November.
The final year administration students will be selling T-shirts, under the name Must Stache Co, with the design of mustache on the T-shirt. The company will provide corporations, sports teams, and individuals residing in the Lower Mainland with a trendy customizable t-shirt that facilitates a conversation about the taboo issues affecting Canadian Men’s health.
“Men can grow mustache but women can’t and there are some people who do not like growing mustache. So we came up with the idea of selling T-shirts that carry the same spirit of Movember,” said Jaskirat Bedi, one of the three students. The other two are Katrina Babbini and Jim Martens. “Our mission is — If you can’t grow one, Show One! And if you can grow one, Show Two!”
Ten percent of funds from sales of the T-shirts will go directly to the Movember Canada Foundation to support prostate cancer research. The remainder of proceeds will go directly to Kwantlen Venture Fund.
Bedi and her team are fourth year business students enrolled in the Entrepreneurial Leadership Degree at Kwantlen. One of the requirements of graduating our program is that students successfully complete a practicum. This practicum involves students undertaking a six week business launch, proceeds of which go directly to Kwantlen Venture fund which provides low interest loans to Kwantlen Alumni starting their own small businesses.
Bedi said though they are excited to be contributing towards the success of future Kwantlen graduates, the team feels strongly that this business launch provides a platform to create further value and awareness of a cause that has affected millions of men worldwide. “There was a strong desire to get behind a product that would not only promote a cause, but do it in a way that put smiles on people’s faces. Thus the idea for our Moustache T-shirts was born,” she said.
Movember took root in Australia when in 2004 a group of young men decided to challenge their friends and family to a bit of healthy competition over who could grow the most impressive moustache. The many conversations sparked by this retro facial hair statement prompted the founders to continue the annual event and associate it with the worthy cause of men’s health issues including prostate cancer and depression.
Since 2004, the event penetrated the global marketplace with Canada leading the way in terms of donations and participants. In 2012 Canada raised $41.8 million dollars, or 29% of total global proceeds raised for men’s health.” Canada also accounted for 247, 454 participants or 22% of the global participants officially registered with the Movember foundation. These statistics not only impressed our team but also inspired us to show our support,” she said.
Providing details about the T-shirt she said, “The100% cotton box cut crewneck T-shirts are available in a variety of sizes to meet individual needs. The design of our shirts is very simplistic, they are plain white with one large black moustache printed in the upper center portion of the shirt.”
T-shirts will be sold for $20 each or $12 each for bulk orders of twelve or more. “For bulk orders, we offer some options to customize the shirt in terms of color, cut, and fit. Furthermore, we offer the option of printing company/team logos on the shirts in addition to the moustache design for a nominal fee.”
Anyone who is interested in buying the T-shirts can contact at the following numbers…
Jaskirat Bedi: 778-9383027
Katrina Babbini: 778-889-2024
Jim Martens: 604-765-6111
Story By Surbhi Bhatia
