November is Movember, the month-long grow-a-mustache-for-charity challenge — and this year Mobile has an official home base. O’Daly’s Irish Pub is hosting Mo’Daly’s for the fifth year running, and the pub now serves as the official Movember network for the city of Mobile.
Owner Matt Lemond started Mo’Daly’s as a month-long men’s health fundraiser built around pub events. The mechanics are simple: participants grow a mustache all month, becoming ambassadors for men’s health who collect donations for programs targeting prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health. Women join in as “Mo Sistas,” encouraging the men in their lives and driving much of the fundraising.
It is not too late to sign up, either individually or as a team through the official Movember site. The month’s calendar includes the Run Your Stache Off 5K, Mo Parties every Friday and a closing Mustache Bash at the end of November. Organizers point to the charity’s transparency — donors can see exactly where the money goes — as a reason to participate; last year’s Movember campaign in the United States raised more than $22 million, and this year aims higher.