For the last seven years, facial hair – and the men who grow it – has raised $217,500, including $55,000 from the 2017 fundraiser, for Children’s Hospital Foundation. As part of the annual Mustaches for Kids (M4K) Richmond fundraiser, participants pay a small entrance fee and collect pledges to support their month-long, facial-hair growing efforts.

Mike Jackson, secretary of M4K Richmond, got involved six years ago after learning that Children’s Hospital Foundation (CHF) was one of the charities that benefitted from the event. His son, 8-year-old Carter, has been a patient at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU (CHoR) since he was a month old and receives weekly occupational, physical, speech, and feeding therapies.

“We’ve had so many great doctors and therapists,” Mike said of his family’s experiences at CHoR. “They are very skilled professionally, but they also care so much for my son.”

This year’s M4K event included 127 growers who raised a total of $268,000 for four local charities. The program culminated with the annual Stache Bash on Dec. 1 at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, where participants wore costumes and competed in a pageant-like atmosphere for the title of “Sweetest Stache,” which recognized the grower who made the biggest impact on M4K Richmond this year.

Mike, who received the “Sweetest Stache” title in 2014, called the honor his “greatest mustache moment” and “truly humbling.”

“As a bald man, hair above my neck in any form draws some second looks,” Mike said. “Most friends and family give me a good ribbing, but they know it’s for a great cause.”

Since 2013, M4K Richmond has also donated $8,500 to sponsor CHF’s annual Four Mile Fun Run, an event that Mike and his wife, Jamie, also support through Team Carter, their team of family and friends that has collected more than $8,600 since 2013 and earned top fundraising honors in 2016.

M4K Richmond has raised more than $1 million for local charities since 2003. Last fall, M4K Richmond’s contributions were recognized with the 2017 Spirit of Philanthropy Award presented by the Central Virginia chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Photo credit: Karen Gage Photography