ALBEMARLE — Some officers in the Albemarle Police Department will have a distinctive look on their face by the end of the month. The department is participating in a national campaign called “No-Shave November” to support cancer research. During this time Chief Danny Bowen is waiving his standard grooming policy to allow officers and staff to participate in the national campaign. According to campaign statistics, each day 22,000 people die from cancer worldwide. Most people don’t have to go too far to find someone that they know who has been stricken with the disease.
No-Shave November organizers say nearly half of cancer diagnoses and deaths are preventable. No-Shave November has been a tradition for many years, but it wasn’t until the fall of 2009 that members of the Chicagoland Hill family decided to use it to raise money for charity. The project held special meaning to the eight Hill children after their father, Matthew Hill, passed away from colon cancer in November 2007. Since then, the family’s charity — Matthew Hill Foundation Inc. — has sought to not only raise funds for cancer research and treatment, but to educate people about cancer prevention as well.
No-Shave November challenges participants, like officers in the Albemarle Police Department, to forgo shaving to start a conversation about cancer. The rules of the campaign are simple: put down your razor for 30 days and donate your monthly hair-maintenance expenses to the cause. You can also set up your own No-Shave November fundraising page and have others donate in your name. If you are not ready to get hairy yourself, just sit back and support someone who is.
For the past eight years, participants from around the world have put down their razors to join in the fight against cancer. The concept behind the campaign is to grow awareness by embracing your hair, which many cancer patients lose. Every dollar raised brings the efforts to fund cancer research and education, help prevent the disease and aid those who are currently fighting the battle. To date, the national No-Shave November campaign has successfully raised more than $3.5 million dollars to combat the disease. The goal for The Albemarle Police Department this year is $2,500.
This is the first time the Albemarle Police Department has participated in the event and Bowen said his officers had the idea to participate.
“As you are probably aware, we do not normally allow our officers to have beards,” Bowen said. “I have relaxed our policy on facial hair for the month of November so that we can participate. Hopefully, we can raise some money for a good cause and allow them to have a chance to grow a beard for one month. After that we will be back to clean-shaven.”
If you would like to support The Albemarle Police Department, just head to no-shave.org/team/AlbemarlePoliceDepartment and click on the “Make a Donation” tab. If you would like to skip the shave and set up your own fundraising page, go to no-shave.org/register.
