Buffalo Grove Firefighters Raise Awareness, Money with Mustaches

Some Buffalo Grove firefighters are sporting a little extra hair this month as they grow mustaches in conjunction with the international Movember effort.

This is the second year that the department has participated in Movember, which invites clean-shaven men to grow mustaches during the month of November. The action is intended to spark conversation about and raise funds for men’s health issues, including prostate and testicular cancer. 

The Buffalo Grove Fire Department is participating in memory of Jerod Loeb, a Buffalo Grove Police and Fire Commissioner who lost his battle with prostate cancer in October, said Fire Chief Terry Vavra, who is among the mustache-growers.

Its motivation, the team states on its fundraising site, is “to honor our fallen friend and look amazingly manly in the process.”

Donations can be made in support of individual participants to the team as a whole here. 

The team does not have a specific fundraising goal, Vavra said, but its captain, the already mustached Frank Doll, has pledged to continue to grow his, without trimming, throughout the month. He will shave it off completely only if he raises $1,500. See his photos and find his donation page here.

Last year, the department raised nearly $1,200 for the effort.