Guests to the Hershey Bears game against Bridgeport on Nov. 26 not only got to see a great game but also got to see a bear with quite the mustache presented with a trophy.
Penn State Health celebrated “No Shave November” with the Hershey Bears at Sunday’s game, where defenseman Connor Hobbs was declared the winner, having the best mustache on the team. After the first period of the game, he was presented by Dr. Jay Raman, chief of the Division of Urology at the Medical Center, with a trophy for his ‘stache. “No Shave November” is a men’s health campaign geared toward promoting awareness for men’s health issues including prostate problems and prostate cancer.
“While the visibility is largely men who grow mustaches or beards during the month, the ultimate message is stronger,” Raman said. “In particular, by doing this, we hope to raise philanthropy and funds to support key missions and research for men’s health conditions. I hope our partnership with the Hershey Bears continues to call attention to the importance of supporting this process and raises public awareness.”
The Hershey Bears have hosted “No Shave November” contests online each year in which the Bears players compete with each other for the best mustache grown through this month. This is the first “No Shave November” event, however, that Penn State Health has partnered with the team to raise awareness for men’s health issues.
For the past two years, Penn State Health joined with Mid Penn Bank on a “No Shave November” fundraising campaign. This year the partnership raised $15,000, which is $4,000 more than was raised last year. That money goes toward support of a prostate cancer quality initiative called the Pennsylvania Urologic Regional Collaboration (PURC). This collaborative involving nine medical centers in the state improves the care of prostate cancer patients by asking key quality metric questions.
Raman explained, “The advantage of these community partnerships is the ability to reach more people in Central Pennsylvania and therefore grow the message of men’s health and awareness.”
The first 5,000 guests also received special T-shirts commemorating the night.