INUVIK
Along with the colder weather and encroaching Christmas decorations, the month of November ushers in four weeks of increasingly amusing facial hair. But it's all for a good cause.

Members of Inuvik's fire department are participating in Movember this month with the goal of raising more than $10,000 for men's health charities and beating the total raised last year. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo

"This year, the moustache is old news," said firefighter Kolin Murray.

"We're trying to go beyond that."

Murray is the organizer of the Inuvik Fire Department's Movember team, which is seeking to raise funds and awareness for men's health. This year the focus is on getting men active.

"I'd say this is a pretty active gang," he said, looking around the fire hall at practice last week.

"But maybe a bit busy. Maybe we could all use some encouragement to be smart about how we get active."

Last year, the fire department team raised more than $10,000 for local and national programs to support men's health. Murray said this year, the goal is to exceed that, which seems likely.

As of Nov. 4, there were 16 people on the team, three more than last year, and about half of them women.

"I love men," said firefighter Sarah Beattie, laughing.

"Men's health is very important to me, it's a great movement."

Beattie, incapable of growing an impressive handlebar herself, will be putting moustache-shaped foodstuffs on her face and taking photos before eating them to encourage people to donate to the cause.

Some of that money will go right back into the community.

Several on-the-land programs run through the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) are entirely funded though Movember campaigns with $3 million promised over the next three years from the Movember Foundation's Canadian Mental Health Initiative.

"The project aims to improve the mental health of indigenous boys and men by targeting factors that promote mental wellness and protect against suicide risk, including cultural identity, personal agency, social support, connection to positive role models and a sense of community belonging," states a news release from the IRC announcing the funding issued Nov. 6.

While many men grow moustaches in solidarity, Murray said he is pleased that the conversation is going a bit deeper this year.

"The first year that I did it, I was just thinking about the moustache," he said.

"Now, I'm trying to think about what it means to talk about men's health and through some of the conversations we've been having here, I think we're getting to the heart of it. It's a campaign about awareness but moreover, we're raising money for some great causes."

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