It’s that time of year again. It’s Movember, when those who can grow moustaches – and even those who can’t – work to raise funds and awareness about men’s health.

And Queen’s has a role to play with various groups taking part each year.

One of the main groups is the Engineering Society of Queen’s University, which once again is activating its membership for the month.

With a solid track record from previous campaigns, the society’s Movember committee this year is putting a greater emphasis on getting as many people involved as possible as well as raising awareness about men’s health issues, including prostate and testicular cancer and mental health.

“Our role is to encourage people through events, through motivation and free giveaways, we just want to liven up the spirit for Movember so that individuals and their friends, other students, maybe even professors and staff members, they will contribute to the Movember Foundation,” says Daniel Kao (Sci’17), one of the campaign coordinators along with Josh Burtney (Sci’16). “That’s the push this year.”

Throughout November, the group will be handing out leaflets and free giveaways, hosting special events as well as sales of special merchandise and tickets to an upcoming Kingston Frontenacs game.

It’s a role that the Engineering Society has filled before and continues to fill.

“The Engineering Society just wants to fill that niche and lead the campus just like they do with a lot of other initiatives,” says Mr. Kao.

However, as with so many initiatives, there are a lot of positives for participants as well. That isn’t lost on the committee.

“It’s just a great way to get students involved with fundraising. We are all engineers here but this is a totally different spin on things,” explains Mr. Kao. “We’re cooking burgers, spending time with people, selling merchandise, which isn’t engineering at all.”

And it’s not just about getting out of their circle of friends and classmates. Eric Kailly (Sci’17), the media coordinator for the campaign, also recognizes the real-life value of getting involved, beyond helping others.

“This opportunity with the Movember committee is my first experience to simulate a real job experience outside the classroom. Having meetings with other people, consulting people outside the school for equipment for these Movember events,” he says. “So it’s all a very new experience to me and it’s also a very worthwhile experience at the same time. It’s invaluable experience that we’re getting.”

This year’s campaign kicks off with a special “Shave-Off” event Friday afternoon at Clark Hall with participants starting with a clean slate before getting their facial hair going.

To find out more about events and the campaign go to Queen’s Eng Movember  on Facebook. To learn more about Movember go to Movember.com.