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The Okanagan College Coyotes baseball team is adding some style to their black, red and white attire for their Movember campaign with a team’s worth of furry upper lips.
Logan Wedgewood, OC Coyotes assistant coach, originally planned to register as an individual for the Movember fundraiser, which is a fundraising campaign that began in 2003 in pursuit of improving the quality of life for men facing prostate cancer, testicular cancer and experiencing mental health issues.
Instead, Wedgewood decided to make the campaign a team-wide effort and enlisted a collective 37 Coyotes with both players and coaches looking to garner funds this year.
“As ball players, or athletes in general, we hold ourselves to a standard of toughness that can affect a lot of aspects of daily life,” said Wedgewood about the importance of the fundraiser to the team.
“We have had players on the team, both in the past and present, whom have dealt with mental health issues and this is our way of letting them know that they don’t have to just tough it out — we’re here to support them.”
The team has grown some magnificent moustaches and gathered a total of $2,470 since the team’s fundraiser began on Nov. 1, $529 of which was raised by Damian Obrigewitch, the leader in the fundraising campaign.
Wedgewood is hoping to meet a $4,000 goal he has set for the team before the fundraiser ends on December 1.
Wedgewood is happy they're moving closer to their goal for their first fundraiser as a team, but is equally happy to see how the players are responding to the initiative.
“I have had guys texting me saying that they appreciate that we are [supporting] this cause for various reasons and it’s always great seeing some of the guys with goofy moustaches.”
Despite the numerous team members generating some cash for the team, Wedgewood laughed that in his "objective opinion" he has the best groomed ‘stache on the squad.
If you’re hoping to support the OC Coyotes in their pursuit of their $4,000 goal, you can visit their Facebook or donate directly to their Movember fundraising campaign page here.
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