The lip tickler and the soup strainer are in vogue this month, as organizations and individuals align themselves with Movember fundraising efforts.

Each November, thousands of men grow mustaches to raise awareness of, and funds for, men's health initiatives, especially prostate cancer and mental health.

Coquitlam firefighters are in the process of grooming their upper lip plumage, and will donate their pledges to the Coquitlam Firefighters Charitable Society.

Coquitlam Mounties are also getting in on the Movember movement. Twenty-plus officers from the local detachment are growing their best moustaches to raise money for cancer research. Last year, the group raised more than $13,000 and finished second nationally among all police teams for fundraising. Go to http: //ca.movember. com/team/531753 to donate or see interesting pictures of their Mo's.

Douglas College players who competed last weekend for the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association's (CCAA) national soccer championships are also growing their facial hair in partnership with the Movember Canada movement.

"We really wanted to build in a community-involvement aspect to the championship," Kyle Baillie, director of the centre for campus life and athletics at Douglas College, said in a press release. "We haven't seen a partnership like this before in the CCAA, so we thought it was fun, relevant and something the players could get behind."

Another Movember event is slated for later this month. The second-annual Crumb Savers Movember Party will take place at 6: 30 p.m. on Nov. 24 at the Treehouse Neighbourhood Pub in PoCo.

The party will include costumes, moustache-grooming tips and prizes for Best Mo in Character, Miss Movember and the 2012 Man of Movember.

Tickets cost $20 in advance and $25 at the door, and can be purchased by emailing info@livingsimplicity.ca.

jkurucz@thenownews.com