All Hail the King. Andrew Munch is crowned the Sweetest Stache for 2009.

What a great year! The year is now officially wrapped up- we’ve received the last of the donations, and our final amount raised is higher than reported earlier. Here it is:

Mustaches For Kids’ Ottawa Chapter of 100 growers raised a whopping $32,000 this year for the Make a Wish Eastern Ontario. A boost of more than $12,000 from 2008, the 2009 grand total is thanks to the big efforts of our growers and the gracious donations from so many friends, family, coworkers and supporters! A big congratulations to all!

And what a ‘Stache Bash we had this year! It was our fifth annual Sweetest ‘Stache competition hosted once again by writer/performer Sylvie Hill, and by far our best yet! The crazy fun went down at Hooley’s Pub on Elgin Street on Friday, December 4, with Alex Tribek (Andrew Munch) taking the sash for sweetest ‘Stache for his final performance in the beatbox dance-off.

A house full of every mustaschioed character from the Italian Spiderman, Gepetto and Mark Twain to some of the standards like Magnum, Mario&Luigi and Ron Burgundy.

The pictures taken by Paul Galipeau can be found on Flickr, some on the Facebook group, and in the M4K Gallery.

This is the home stretch. You have a week left to persuade, plea, pry, and pester for pledges. Every little bit helps. The efforts in this last week will probably mean giving another child a life-changing wish.

You guys have done a really great job this year in promoting and furthering the cause. I am proud to wear this stache with such a fine group of young men.

See you Friday.

Stache Bash

Two words: dress to impress. And be prepared for a good time.

We will be descending upon Hooley’s Pub on December 4.  There will be half price apps and drinks.Plan to be there at 7:30pm. The festivities will start promptly at 8pm. More information can be found on the site.

Prizes

It is new this year, but we have prizes for the top fundraisers.A big thanks to Dennis from Make a Wish for pulling these prizes together. If you see him around on Friday, be sure to say thanks – you can’t miss him, he’ll be wearing a mustache.

And the prizes are:

1. Signed Daniel Briere Jersey.

2. Overnight trip to Calabogie Resort for two with 1 round of golf.

3. Sens tickets.

We also have a special prize for the sweetest stache but you won’t find out until the sash is presented.

Of course there is also the Kevin Janok Award for worst stache. Typically it goes to Kevin Janok – but there are some nastaches this year and with the right costume he could be dethroned.

Pledging and Dropping off money

This isn’t all that complicated, here is everything you need to know:

• Bring all your money and pledge sheets with you on Friday. Write your name on the pledge sheet. Have it totaled prior to arrival.
• Please write a cheque for the cash portion of your pledging. This is a nice-to-have and saves us a lot time and effort.
• Don’t include donations over paypal on your pledge sheet.  At the venue, we will have the total amount pledged to you over paypal.
• For those who pledged to you over paypal, they will get a receipt, we have their information.
• If you can’t make it on Friday, you have a few options:
  • drop off your money and pledge sheet to me during business hours at my place of work or on the weekend/evenings to my house – email me for the address and my mobile number
  • send money to this email address from online banking.
  • send the money through paypal on the site
  • mail checks to me. email for the address.

We will be meeting up this Friday at the Standard on Elgin. (They have awesome burgers!) Come out, say hi, check in and raise a pint to the sweet, sweet staches.

Stache Bash: The magic is starting to happen. We will be descending upon Hooley’s Pub on December 4.   Again, there will be half price apps and drinks.Plan to be there at 7:30pm.  The festivities will start promptly at 8pm. More information can be found on the Stache Bash page.

We will be meeting up this Friday at Hooley’s Pub at 292 Elgin Street. Come out this Friday and meet some of your brothers-in-stache. Trade humiliating stories, general non-threatening taunts and jibs and pledging tips. If you haven’t made out yet, then try to make it out for a beer, it would be great to meet some of you rookie growers.

There will be half price apps and drinks until 9pm.

Hope to see you there.

Read on for pledging tips and information.

Pledging

The easiest way by far it to direct your friends and family to the website to donate on line.

Here are a few tips to help you get the word out:

• Send an email to everyone you know.  There are some tips on the website on some
• wording that you can use.  Don’t forget to send the link to the website.
• Change your status on facebook to say your’re growing a mustache and ask people to donate. Dont be afraid to change it a couple times a week. And change your photo to a nice stachey pic to get the point across.
• Posters are available to print from the website. And we have pins and biz cards if you want them.

Pledging – FAQs

do you prefer if we bring the money we’ve collected each week, or wait until the final day before bringing in the pledge forms and money?

Wait until the final day and feel free to check in each week. For the cash you have collected, write a cheque for the total amount made out to Make a Wish Eastern Ontario.  For any donor that is writing a cheque, they can make it out to Make a Wish Eastern Ontario – and bring the cheques along with you to Stache Bash.  Use the pledge form for people who want tax receipts, and when you turn in your pledge shee on the final day, be sure to list your total amount raised.

I posted a few photos from Friday on the Facebook page and the rest are in the gallery on the site.  Thanks to Paul Galipeau for the awesome shots.

Pledging

I would encourage you to start your fundraising right away. The pledge form is available for download on the site.

Check in with us throughout the campaign with your progress so we can update our raised-to-date number.

If you weren’t there, Make-a-Wish has given us a signed Daniel Briere jersey for the top fundraiser.

Meetups

We will be meting on Friday at the Clocktower at 7pm. If you can’t make it, don’t worry, just send in your photo to me.

The following meetups are going to be held at other participating bars like the Standard and Hooley’s. Details to come.

Stache Bash

The Stache Bash will be held at Hooley’s this year. And, (drum roll), our beloved Sylvie Hill will be joining us again to corral the stache stampede.

Photos

If you don’t see your photo on the site:

• You need to Join to appear on the site. (returning members are not grandfathered in)
• If you don’t make it out to the meetups, send us a shot by email and we’ll post it.

There are only 5 short days until clean shave day and my follicles are tingling.

A few tips to make the most of your clean shave week:

• Update your facebook status to say “I am growing a mustache for Mustaches for Kids. Clean Shave day is Octover 30.” and share the m4kottawa.org link with your buds
• Download and print the poster for your office/apt building/cave/etc. Big ups to Ben Watts for this year’s poster design.
• Forward this email along to all those guys who last year said ” hey, that’s a bitchin’ stache, can I grow next year”
  

If you haven’t already, please sign up. Most importantly get the m4k rookies to sign up so I can get them on the list.

If you missed last week’s email, you can read it here.

See you on Friday.

We are happy to announce the FIFTH ANNUAL MUSTACHES FOR KIDS MUSTACHE GROWING CONTEST AND FUNDRAISER. This letter is your official personal invitation to greatness.

Last year, you, our devoted mustachees, raised $20,000 for Make a Wish Eastern Ontario. For more details on how your efforts helped, I have posted a letter from the people at Make a Wish: http://www.m4kottawa.org/2009/10/06/how-our-stachely-efforts-in-2008-helped-others/

So sharpen up your razors because Clean Shave Day is October 30, only a couple short weeks away.  We will be meeting at the Clocktower on Bank St to celebrate this loss of innocence. If we’re going to continue to beat our fundraising record, we’re going to have to bring our A-game this year. Encourage your friends/co-workers/family to join as well. “A single hair is nothing on its own, but united they form a mighty Mustache!”

I have some Wish Stories that I would like to share with you. You and your teams collective efforts from your event was in a word “wonderful”. We allocated your funds towards many wishes over the holidays that we have completed. Christmas being the most wonderful time of the year is also for our Make-A-Wish children the time of most need.  In the end of it all be very proud of your accomplishments in 2008. It was huge. Please feel free to pass them along to the group so they also can feel the “MAGIC” they collectively created or the kiddies we serve.

Because some wishes can’t wait for someday.

I have one question for your group. Is there anything a moustache can’t do?

Below are 4 stories of completed wishes during the holidays.

Raphael

A shy 5 year old boy, who has Retinoblastoma, was overwhelmed by his wish for a shopping spree at Toys-R-Us just in time for Christmas.

Raphael and his entire family were picked up at home by a limo and driven to the Toys-R-Us store where he was met by the store mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe. He was escorted around by family and very friendly employees who helped the children pick toys and games. Before heading back home with a jammed packed limo he was whisked away to his favourite restaurant. Raphael ended his “wish day” very content and wearing a big smile!

Raphael’s mom was overwhelmed: «It was a very exciting experience with our kids and having their Christmas wishes fulfilled. We had never dreamed that we could have a limo ride! On behalf of my family, we thank you for all the things you have given us, what you gave was more that what we were expecting.»

Henry

Henry is a very personable 11 year boy suffering from a brain tumour who asked for nothing but an IPOD Classic. Imagine out of anything he could wish for this was it.We at Make-A-Wish always love to what we call ” enhance” the wish. So when the Wish Grantors arrived with all the extra goodies they couldn’t wait to see his expression .Henry was so very grateful for the numerous other “gadgets” given to him by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern Ontario that it was overwhelming.

His shy demeanour disappeared quickly and our visit with Henry became very educating and interesting as he shared his great knowledge about all of the games and electronics we brought.

Another happy child with a great big smile at the end of his “wish day”!

Riley’s Wish ( another type of Wish we do )

We received a call just before Christmas from one of our social Workers that directly work with the families in need. She told us about 12 Year Old Riley, who suffers from a brain tumour along with other medical issues. In these cases were time is at an essence we act very quickly. These type of wishes are our hardest wish emotionally we have to do at Make-A-Wish and we refer to them as “A RUSH WISH “  We asked the father what are Riley’s likes and what does he think his son needs at this time in his life. The dad told us things like Riley loves Hockey! The dad also relayed to us about other needs at home that Riley could use. With this information we jumped at the chance to do what we could. Since his condition hasn’t allowed him to travel far from home, the Make-A-Wish of Eastern Ontario, decided that we could bring his wish to him. We bought Riley a 52″ Flat screen HD TV ( he was losing his vision and it was hard to see the T.V. that they had ). Also a big comfy bed with all the trimmings( his little bed was in terrible condition ) and reclining chair ( Lazy Boy ) for him to enjoy his T.V when he could and was out of his bed. Along with many other gifts of movies, games, goodies, HD TV box and so on. We made it all happen and delivered out the articles to him in 2 days, just before Christmas. I also brought Riley out a check for $500 to spend anyway he wished and other things that he wanted to have for the enhancement of his Wish. The family was simply stunned and so excited. Riley’s face was full of joy as he stared at all the stuff that was being delivered in front of his eyes. Volunteers that helped on the delivery and myself all had tears of joy on what we accomplished in this situation. It was truly magical. I was speaking to the wish dad the other day to see how things are going and if all the goodies we brought out were in order. He replied that it made their Christmas considering the situation. Riley is glued to the HD TV and loves to watch the Sens High definition Hockey. Most of all he enjoyed the juniors hockey over the holidays. His bed is perfect and the Lazy boy is front and center in front of the T.V. With his father choking up expressing his thanks to us all I told him, we are only an extension of the kindness of our donors and their hard work and efforts. As we stood there we all had tears in our eyes and the father could hardly speak anymore. I hugged him and told him that him and Riley are the hero’s in my life.

Krystal-Marie

Krystal-Marie is a typical 15 year old except that she suffers from an Optic-pathway brain tumour. Despite her illness, Krystal has a love for makeup and the latest technology. Her wish was to own a Flat screen TV & a Laptop computer.

Since her birthday falls on Christmas Day, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern Ontario thought it appropriate to grant her wish as close to her birthday as possible. And so, on December 22nd, she was totally surprised and ecstatic when a Limo showed up at her house to take her shopping for a 46″ Flat screen TV for her bedroom. Moreover, Sony generously granted her a “pink” laptop and “pink” IPOD along with many other surprises.

Krystal mom wrote that: «The wish turned out exactly the way we thought, excellent. It was awesome that Mike the Sony rep stayed and made sure that everything was in working order before he left and said to call him if we needed help.»

This is a birthday that Krystal-Marie will never forget!

Asia ( left on her trip January 19th )

Asia is a quiet 11 year old from Kingston who’s very close to her parents and four siblings. Asia suffers from neurological problems who take a toll on her. As her mom put it: «Asia is an incredibly brave little girl with just too many worries». Unfortunately, one of her younger sisters also suffers from seizures and autism. Because of both sisters condition, they have a trained service dog named Rivers who detects seizures before they happen and alert the parents. The complexity of Asia’s condition has made it impossible thus far for the entire family to travel and enjoy a much needed vacation. Sadly, Asia has a very good understanding of her condition and feels quite sad that her siblings must miss out on certain family activities because of it. Her wish is to travel to Walt Disney to meet the fairies and visit Pixie Hallow. Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and our incredible partners, Asia’s Disney wish will come true on January 19th 2009 when her entire family, as well as Rivers, will be flying to Orlando. All of our staff and volunteers are excited for Asia and this great chance to finally just be a kid.

Asia with her 3 Make-A-Wish Eastern Ontario Wish Grantors on the couch.

Published by the good people at mustachesforkids.org (the international organization).

The amount we raised this year speaks for itself. Thanks to your efforts and enthusiasm we’ve raised $16,000 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Eastern Ontario. Mike at Make-a-Wish has told me that a wish is in the works and I’ll let you guys know as soon as I know the details and how your efforts are helping.

The Stache Bash Sash Goes too…

Hats off to Todd Headon for claiming the Stache Bash Sash. Truly a great costume, a world class stache and a helluva guy. Congrats. Another one thats gonna be hard to live up to. The bar has been set.

The Portraits

Thanks to Paul Gallipeau (www.lechampiondumonde.com) for taking the glamour shots. I didn’t think we could possibly look any better than we already do, but the photos make your stache larger than life:
http://flickr.com/photos/paulgalipeau/sets/72157611202610943/

Many Thanks

M4K Ottawa would be a naked upper lip without the help from our good friends:

• our one-of-a-kind emcee Sylvie Hill
• our photographers Paul Gallipeau and Bex Fernando
• Zaphods for the Stache bash
• the Clocktower for giving us a home for our 5 weeks

And of course my co-organizers Steve Palmer and Mike Hollingworth.

Next Year

Go forth and spread the word. Next year will be our biggest and best yet. Can you believe we will be 5 years old already.

Brett Tackaberry