The eleventh month of the year is generally called November, but at PROCURE, it’s known as “Bowvember.”
PROCURE is a Quebec-based organization that not only raises funds to help in the fight against prostate cancer, but also offers support services for men diagnosed with the disease.
“It was started 14 years ago by Marvyn Kussner and the idea was to provide services in French and English for men in Quebec,” said Laurent Proulx, PROCURE’s executive director.
The types of services offered include a telephone helpline, conferences and a website, featuring up-to-date information as well as patient testimonies.
“I had a friend two weeks ago who was operated,” Proulx said. “He’s a doctor and he went on our website to get information from a patient’s standpoint.”
“He found something that really helped him go through the disease and make decisions on what treatment he was going to have.”
The Bowvember initiative features a chic bow tie designed by Quebec comedian Dany Turcotte, with a bit of help from local fashion designer Luko Marion.
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Nov. 19 is an especially important day in Bowvember as it’s both Quebec Prostate Cancer Awareness Day and International Men’s Day.
PROCURE is encouraging all Quebecers to wear the Bowvember bow tie and to share their pictures on social media using the hashtag #Bowvember.
“We have over $8,000 bow ties to sell,” Proulx said.
Each bow tie costs $35.
If you’re not sure you can pull off the look, you can always support one of Procure’s 24 ambassadors.
Each ambassador, including Habs’ Jeff Petry, is raising awareness about prostate cancer in honour of a loved one.
Last year the organization raised $410,000 for Bowvember but Proulx hopes it can reach the half-million mark this year.
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