The Toronto Stock Exchange sounded the bell to start the conversations about men’s health alongside Toronto Police Service members.
Toronto Police Service (TPS) Staff Superintendent Rob Johnson and Toronto Police Association President Jon Reid joined TMX Chief Executive Officer Loui Anastasopoulos on November 1 to launch this year’s Movember campaign and open the stock market.
Movember is an annual month-long fundraising event where participants grow moustaches or take pledges over the course of the month of November to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other men’s health issues.
Johnson reiterated that the Service has a long history of involvement with the campaign and supporting the goal of changing the face of men’s health.
“We believe this campaign contributes to breaking the silence around these critical health issues and encouraging all of us to have those sensitive and sometimes difficult conversations about our health,” he said. “Together, we can support one another by getting involved and doing whatever we can to bring awareness to these critical men’s health issues. The moustaches we grow are a reminder of this and a great way to start these important conversations.”
Johnson thanked Movember team captain Detective Sergeant Scott Bradbury, Martin Blake of Corporate Communications and Sergeant Kris McCarthy of the Mounted Unit for their dedication to the campaign.
“The efforts of these members and over 800 other TPS members who have registered with Movember in the last 10 years, has been instrumental in helping our team @TorontoPoliceFollicleForce collectively raise over $300,000 over those 10 years,” he added.
For a second straight year, Mounted Unit member Draper is the face of the TPS campaign.
“We are thrilled and excited to have the Toronto Police Service and Draper join us to open the markets today,” said Anastasopoulos.
Last year, the four-year-old Clydesdale helped the team raise over $24,500, making TPS the highest fundraising police team in Canada in 2021.
“When Draper first came to the unit, his moustache was epic,” said McCarthy. “In the first two weeks with us, everybody downtown knew his name and it was clearly because of his moustache. With a campaign like Movember, I thought it would be useful to use Draper as that face of the Follicle Force team. He led TPS to a record-breaking year in 2021 and we are looking to exceed that.”
TPS and Toronto Police Association (TPA) members can register for team @Toronto Police Follicle Force and members of the Service and public can make donations to Draper and the team at https://ca.movember.com/team/2237267.
Team fundraising activities will include sales of TPS Movember Challenge coins featuring Draper’s image, coffee mugs, promotional posters and postcards with QR codes linking to the team’s Movember page, all featuring Draper.
The Movember Foundation is the largest global men’s health charity and aims to stop men dying too young and to help men live happier, healthier, longer lives.
