What started as a way to support a friend has turned into a multi-thousand-dollar fundraiser.
Mary Reimer, principal at Carman Collegiate, is making chocolate moustaches for the third year for Boundary Trails Health Centre’s cancer supports. She started the fundraiser two years ago when a friend and colleague was diagnosed with cancer. After buying the moustache moulds and melting chocolate and making more than 3,000 chocolates, Reimer generated over $1,500 for CancerCare Manitoba.
Then, on Aug. 30, 2022, Reimer herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. While undergoing chemotherapy in October (breast cancer awareness month), she started making the moustaches again for the same cause.
“These little moustaches are what kept me sane,” she said. “They have me a purpose. They’re going to save lives and they kind of saved mine.”
After selling the chocolate moustaches for just six weeks the second time, Reimer donated $8,300 to Boundary Trails Health Centre for cancer care.
“I have never felt more supported by the community than during my cancer journey,” she said.
This year, she’s back at it, and after just a couple weeks, she’s almost surpassed what was raised last year. Reimer is selling chocolate moustaches for $2/each in flavours of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, Skor, cookies and cream, candy cane, Reese’s Pieces, and birthday cake.
This year, a local business is selling Reimer the supplies to her at cost. OMG’s Candy has also donated 500 lb of chocolate for her to make the candies from. With the supplies, she and a number of students at Carman Collegiate get together in the school’s kitchen and melt the chocolate, pour it into the moulds, then let it set. Reimer said she has three long pages full of the names of students wanting to help. Their goal this year is to raise $12,500.
Reimer started on Oct. 1 by posting a Facebook post about the fundraiser. She started getting orders that day and, since then, has received three orders for 500 moustaches and one order for 450, on top of countless smaller orders. By Oct. 10, she had already raised $6,000.
“For a disease that is so deplorable, it really brings out the best in people and in our community,” said Reimer. “Cancer destroys the body, but it will never take the goodness of humanity.”
She plans to sell the chocolate moustaches this year until the end of November. With Christmas right around the corner, the candy cane flavoured ones are a big hit and Reimer said they freeze really well, making them the perfect stocking stuffer.
Though the feat is a big one, Reimer said she’s happy to be so exhausted.
“If my efforts can save one woman from hearing those words I heard one year ago, it’s worth it,” she said.
It’s projected one in two men and one in three women will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the world, with 10 million people dying from it each year. According to World Cancer Day, 30 per cent of cancer-related deaths could be prevented through screening and early detection.
To order your chocolate moustaches from Reimer and her students, people can message her on Facebook or call the school at (204) 745-2001.
