Since 2009, the charity No-Shave November has asked men to do a weird thing (well, not that weird given their name): don’t shave in the name of charity. The organization first partnered with Matthew Hill Foundation, Inc. to raise money for colon cancer. For the last few years, the organization has expanded its mission to men’s health in general and also focused on talking about the importance of men’s mental health.

Since 2009, they’ve raised over $12,000,000 for charity. This year alone, the organization partnered with 13 nonprofits to raise money for colon cancer awareness, research, and prevention. In November 2022, the organization says it raised over $500,000 with the help of 1,123 members and 396 teams.

With all those many people putting down their razors for an entire month, there’s bound to be some pretty epic mustaches out there. Here are some of the best Movember ‘staches that were grown this year, as well as some reasons why their growers participated in Movember.

Related: You won’t believe the latest style trend for your hair down there

Anthony Rinaldi, a 32-year-old from New York City, has participated in Movember for 11 years. While it started off as a “vanity project,” he admitted, the organization’s focus in recent years on mental health for both those with cancer and men in general really inspired him deeper.

“When Movember started to elevate the mental health angle more it became a lot more universal and relatable for me as I noticed how rare it was for me to have any idea how any of the men in my life are actually feeling,” he said. “And I’ve really used this awkward facial hair to help start these awkward conversations.”

Chris Pfaff, a firefighter, has also been inspired by No-Shave November’s decision to tackle both men’s cancer and mental health.

“I participate in Movember in support of all of our firefighters,” he said. “Firefighters respond to the worst moments in people’s lives. As a result, a startling number of them now struggle with stress, which can lead to PTSD and other mental health issues. What’s more, today’s fires burn hotter and faster than ever, and more products contain toxic chemicals. Many of these are carcinogenic, increasing the rate at which firefighters are developing and dying of cancer.”

Darren Brown has been fundraising for Movember for 12 years. The organization’s inclusivity and discussion on men’s issues for the Black community have kept him motivated to fundraise year after year. In fact, Brown says he goes to his Black barbershop at the end of Movember to use it as another excuse to tell people why he grew his mustache and to talk about the organization’s mission.

“There is no time like now to have conversations around health to break stigmas in the Black community,” Brown said. “How have I been using my Mo to start these conversations? One place is at work. I’m a consultant at Accenture, where we have a workplace Movember team. We raise funds for Movember and our firm matches the donations. I take every chance I can to brag about all the things our firm is doing to help support the cause. I’m appreciative that Movember discusses the different ways that different communities are affected by men’s health. In 2020 I sat down with Mark Hedstrom, US Executive Director of Movember, to produce a podcast where we had a candid conversation about what Movember is, what it does, and how it helps. We published this to Accenture’s African American Employee Resource Group. Broadcasting to this community helped to raise awareness and potentially save lives.”

Josh Tari served as the team captain of the Pringles US Mo Bros and Mo Sisters squad. This is the second year Pringles created a Movember team.

“For the second year, Pringles is joining Movember to drive more open conversations around men’s mental health in the USA,” Tari said. “From one moustachioed aficionado to another, it’s not just mustaches that Pringles and Movember have in common. There is a shared goal to decrease the stigma around mental health and inspire connection. Pringles has been raising funds, awareness and supporting Movember to help men live happier, healthier, longer lives in more than one way this fall.”

Kai Solomon, a 20-year-old from Massachusetts, is a student ambassador at Tufts University. This was his second year fundraising for the organization. One of this year’s highlights was a Moustache auction he hosted where the winner was able to choose which style of mustache Soloman would wear during the month. Between No-Shave November and other events Soloman has hosted, he’s helped raise over $26.8K for charities.

Matt Caputo started fundraising for Movember in 2019. He created the Moustache Classic Ice Hockey Outing, which uses his local beer league hockey as a way to raise money and support more community members. Since 2019, the league has raised nearly $100K. This year’s competition was especially tough for Caputo, as his father passed away in August. While he considered canceling the event for 2022, he instead chose to keep it going to help drive change in the way the world views men’s health.

Matthew Semel, the director of Global Creative Operations & Project Management and co-chair of Men’s Employee Resource Group (or MERG), started fundraising for No-Shave November because of his personal experiences with mental health.

“After my wife and I had my son, I went through some tough times adjusting and taking on too much, all the while not getting enough sleep,” he said. “It really messed with me. I sought help and worked through issues that had been simmering under the surface for a long time for me. When I came out the other side, I saw that my company had an Employee Resource Group that participated in Movember. The Men’s Employee Resource Group had also posted that they were looking for a new philanthropy lead. So, I used my personal experience to help improve Movember programming at ELC and to try and have a positive impact on other families that may be going through the same thing. I grow my mustache to help start the conversation around Men’s Mental Health and raise money to continue talking with those in my life about why this is so important, not just for me, but for everyone.”

Robert Morgan, an artist who also works in costumes for film, has participated in Movember for five years.

“I was introduced to Movember five years ago in Vancouver while working on the film Man of Steel,” he said. “Our team was called Stacie of Steel. I promised my team members that I would bring Movember home to Los Angeles and participate every year.”

Umamaheswara ‘Uma’ Malladi has led Movangelsist at CITI for over 10 years now and is an eight-time Platinum Club Mo Bro., meaning he’s raised over $1,000 for the organization for eight of the 10 years he participated in Movember. Uma keeps CITI engaged with the organization throughout the year, such as during MasterCard’s gift-matching days.

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This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.org.