UCSF Prostate Cancer Survivor Grows a Beard for a Good Cause

Anything for a good cause with a beard!

(via www.ucsf.edu)

For the first time in his life, 50-year-old Art Wagner is growing a beard. He wants people to ask why.

He will tell them that he is a survivor of prostate cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer death in men. He will tell them that he has started Septembeard, a charitable organization dedicated to raising money for research on prevention, better treatments and a cure.

Wagner is hoping men will grow facial hair during September, National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and that people will sponsor the hair growth by donating to his brand-new nonprofit, which officially opens today (Sept. 1.) The money goes directly to one of six leading research institutions on prostate cancer: UCSF, Johns Hopkins, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson and Northwestern University.

“I’m starting my beard on Sept. 1,” said Wagner, who works in advertising sales and is pursuing a master’s degree in counseling at St. Mary’s College in Moraga. “I’m a little terrified of what I’ll look like after a month. It’s not something I ever wanted to do. People don’t have to grow full beards. Even if it’s a little stubble or a soul patch or a goatee, that’s fine.” MORE

Tags: cancer, Health, Mayo Clinic, Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Prostate, Prostate cancer