LCC’s Mark Capombassis ’88 is our guest blogger. He shares how he, and subsequently LCC, got involved with Movember.
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I got involved with Movember because it raises money for men’s cancer. My father, Panos Capombassis, died of cancer: it was in his memory that I first chose to get involved. I created my first Movember team in 2011, and we raised over $120,000 with a mere six-member team. We were the #1 team worldwide (of 10 people or less) for funds raised…and we had fun doing it.
After the success of the 2011 campaign I wanted to get more involved with Movember, so I joined the Montreal Board of Directors in 2012. My goal in 2012 is to help create more teams and inspire more people to participate in this important initiative.
I was aware that Movember does a great job getting university students involved, but I had never heard of the organization doing anything specifically with high schools. I know that when I was in high school, my friends and I would have definitely grown moustaches if we had been given the permission to do so! We would have done it for the fun of it as well for the cause. With that in mind, I thought “let’s get my old high school involved.”
I had initially approached LCC to participate in 2011, but there was not enough time to assemble a team, so Kirk LLano (Director of Philanthropy and Alumni Relations) and I decided to talk about the possibility again mid-2012. Kirk gave me the go ahead to come into the school and talk to the grade 11 boys after lunch one day. With Kirk’s support and enthusiasm, he has created a movement within the school to get the kids signed up. To date LCC Stash is up to 48 people on the team and that is far more than I ever could have hoped for in our first year.
In addition to LCC’s involvement I have created a Canadian High School Network where another 20 high schools from across Canada have joined. Together we will show the capacity this demographic has in raising awareness and funds for a great cause.
My Movember goals for 2012 have been as follows:
- Continue my personal efforts to raise awareness in honour of my father
- Create a Movember LCC team
- Create a Movember Canadian High School Network
- Use the success of our Canadian High School Network to encourage high schools worldwide to get involved in Movember
I’m well on my way. — Mark Capombassis ’88