Bye-bye, beards
Students host Beard Shave Bonanza to fundraise for kids in need
Amanda Ducheminsky
Sports Editor
The Beard Shave Bonanza brought in $3,261.04 for Brown Bagging 4 Calgary’s Kids, which provides healthy bagged lunches for local kids. Norman Potter, pictured above, said ‘bye-bye’ to his beard at the event.
Photo: Amanda Ducheminsky
Shaving your beard may not seem like that big of a sacrifice, but heads were lowered before the men at the Beard Shave Bonanza said good-bye to their beards. Mount Royal University’s bearded men shaved their majestic whiskers for charity on Saturday, Sept. 27 at The Hub.
“Being beardless is very strange, but in a good way. It kind of became a part of who I was and I feel like I have to redefine my identity,” says Travis Richardson, event coordinator, now a bare-chinned beauty.
Richardson’s mom personally did the honours of shaving her son’s beard. He says his mom’s feelings towards his facial hair was how the idea for the fundraiser started.
“There are people out there who absolutely can’t stand my beard, [including] my mom, so I figured that there would probably be some people willing to pay money to have me shave it too.”
The buzzing event raised a total of $3,261.04 for Brown Bagging 4 Calgary’s Kids (BB4CK) through ticket sales, an auction and “shave” or “no shave” change boxes.
“The charity raises money to provide healthy, bagged lunches for kids in Calgary. We went with BB4CK because the charity has a very good track record with donations. This means that all the money we raised on event night will go directly towards helping feed under privileged kids locally. It is important for kids to not have to worry when their next meal is,” says Richardson.
The event sold out featuring music from a variety of bands who lent their time to the event including: The Yukon Project, Kristin and Alex, The Joko Band, Belvue and White Chocolate Thunder.
“The bands were amazing to work with. The fact that they donated their time and money to our team was just amazing,” says Richardson.
The event team formed from a few dedicated students, some with beards others without. Key contributors included Grant Lahring, Norman Potter and Katlyn Janz.
“We have had too many people to name help us with this project and the outpouring of support from the Students Association has been vital. We had a number of students step up to the plate and help us with ticket sales and donations,” says Richardson.
He says the entire event team was incredible.
“I can’t say enough about the team of people that helped put the event together. I have so much gratitude for every person that made this possible.”
Richardson hopes to do more fun filled fundraising events in the future for students.
“I am definitely planning to do this again and hopefully in the very near future we will sell out all of Wyckham house.”
He does say that being beardless does have a few perks no matter how sad it may have been to shave it.
“It’s nice brushing my teeth without getting toothpaste everywhere. The amount of shampoo and conditioner I buy is also going to see a dramatic decrease.”
