Flying Dust First Nation is hosting a Movember campaign in support of men's mental health awareness. (Photo credit/Shahayle Norman)

By Elliott Knopp

Movember Campaign

Flying Dust First Nation hosting local Movember campaign

Nov 3, 2021 | 4:46 PM

A popular awareness campaign is making a mark in the community after drawing inspiration on social media.

The Flying Dust First Nation community is running its own localized Movember campaign to raise awareness for men’s mental health.

The campaign in which men are asked to grow out their mustaches for an entire month was originally founded to support men’s prostate cancer awareness, but over time gradually underwent changes to become a broader campaign focusing on various men’s issues.

Shahayle Norman, Jordan’s Principle coordinator, explained the choice to support men’s mental health initiatives comes at a time where some in the community are growing increasingly concerned with the lack of awareness of support available.

“Recently, our community has been dealing with a lot of deaths and tragic events that have been taking place, so we just want to promote that it’s okay for men to not be okay,” she said.

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“We have prevention workers, addictions workers, nurses…if anybody needs to come and see somebody, the health team will provide you with any kind of help that you need.”

While some participants are taking pledges to raise money for mental health initiatives throughout the campaign, there are also some people participating to show solidarity for the importance of the event in the community.

One of these people is Blake Derocher, a Flying Dust security guard. As a first-time participant in the campaign, he said he understand the impact the drive can have with addressing the issue in public conversation.

“You hear about everybody’s mental health, and it’s good to have mental health awareness with something like this,” he said.

“It brings together all men and almost everyone in general, and it’s good to have that structure and going in with a positive mindset.”

Derocher mentioned the campaign bears even more importance as the community is dealing with many challenges to a healthy mindset.

“With the COVID situation and all that, the pandemic has brought down mental condition and everything down. People are suffering through losses and not being able to be with everybody they want to.”

As the inability to surround oneself with people important to an individual’s support system continues, Derocher believes the campaign will help alleviate some of the additional stress through its inviting nature and the crucial message that people care about men’s feelings and emotions.

“All the men out there, grow your mustaches and beards. Remember that you’re doing it for a good cause,” he said.

Anyone looking to participate in the campaign or follow it on social media can do so by joining the ‘FLYING DUST SHOW YOUR TALENT’ group on Facebook.

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elliott.knopp@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp