Uganda Nice Stache
{Jeff Steinberg}
Mustaches and generosity. There can be a connection.
It’s not any more far fetched than using one’s feet to play a guitar.
Convincing people to support a cause doesn’t always have to involve a guilt-laced stab at the heart. It doesn’t always need weighty retellings of tragic, random circumstances and despondent imagery of poverty and violence. Support can also be encouraged even without galvanizing tales of people rising out of awful situations to reclaim their lives – like the women at Total Impact House.
Fostering a desire to help can be as simple as saying, “Want to see your co-workers look ridiculous for a little while?”
The “Uganda Nice Stache” mustache growing contest came out of brainstorming discussions among the crafty Total Impact House committee members here in Chicago. With a few fliers, emails and message board posts, over $1,350 was raised for the women in Uganda. Of course, we also needed willing participants to forgo their face grooming for a few weeks.
On Oct. 2, staff at Total Attorneys gave money in the name of their favorite lip coiffure. There were a bevy of choices: handle bars, colonial style lip-to-chop connectors, weird zig zag-looking things that probably haven’t been named yet, barely noticeable stubble and even a pencil thin John Waters homage.
Aside from harnessing the unforeseen power of facial hair, Chicago was also treated to a visit from Purse of Hope founder Kristen Hendricks. She shared details of her first meeting with the women at Impact House and described the surrounding rural area.
“It takes the girls out of the city and puts them into a family neighborhood,” she said. “Their stories are amazing. They’re tough people, they are used to adversity.”
Hendricks described the joy seen in the women’s faces when they found out they all would be staying at the Impact House. But she also explained what the women went through before reaching their new home.
“Just when you think you’ve heard the most depraved, sick thing it gets worse,” Hendricks said. “And here’s the person sitting right next to you who went through this torture. It’s not some abstract thing. It’s done to real people and it happens all the time.”
Down the road for Chicago-area action, Total Impact House volunteers will be at the Paula Varsalona fashion show this Saturday as part of the Fashion Focus Chicago events. They will be operating a booth and giving out information about the House.
Also, a sizable event solely for the Impact House is in the works to happen tentatively in January 2010, and it might involve a poker tournament. Other sightings and happenings are to come.
In the meantime, the mustaches.
In order of appearance: Adam Partyka, Andrew Kaplan, Bill Barnes, Bob Hannon, Bret Libigs, David Dahl, Denis Dwyer (Conan O’Brien didn’t participate but he probably wanted to on some level), Ed Scanlan, Erik Stokes, Guy Suesuntisook, Jason Priestas, Karl Freischlag, Josh Havenga, Jeff Steinberg, Jackson Fothergill, Rick Leitch, Mark Sadegi, Ryan Burns, Scott Hogan, Scott Pauly, Tom Muir, Timothy Currier, Tom Roberts, Will Reigle, Zach Walsh, Tristan Milner and Vamsi Nadimpalli
