sponsor my mustache!

As some of you might have noticed, I shaved off my luxuriant beard this past week. This was not because I lost a bet, or because I miss getting carded at bars and liquor stores. Rather, I have just entered myself (or, more specifically, my upper lip) in the first annual Mustache-A-Thon for 826 Seattle.

What, you may ask, is 826 Seattle, and what is a Mustache-A-Thon, and most importantly, how may you contribute to this noble cause? Read on, and all will be explained.

First, 826 Seattle. Cleverly hidden behind the teleporter at the back of the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Store, 826 Seattle is a non-profit writing center dedicated to helping students aged 6-18 develop their creative and expository writing skills. They offer writing workshops, publishing projects, drop-in tutoring, and help with English language learning. All of their programs are structured around the belief that "great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to a young person's success." Or, as one of the 826 students puts it, "On a scale of 1 to 10, it's like infinity. It's like a library, but all personal and stuff."

Since all of 826 Seattle's programs are free, they seek financial help from many sources, including, but not limited to, mustaches. So from October 12 through November 16, I will be growing a mustache in order to help them raise money. 826 Seattle has a goal of raising $10,000 through the sponsorship of mustache growing, which will finance writing field trips, workshops, and the publication of an anthology of stories written by 826 Seattle students.

So what I'm asking for is your sponsorship of my mustache. Any and all contributions are welcome, but to make things more interesting (as if mustache growing needed to be made more interesting), the person who has contributed the most by November 16 will get to choose the style of my mustache. Should I grow it in the style of Langston Hughes? Or Kurt Vonnegut? Perhaps the Arthur Conan Doyle style? Or the Frederick Nietzsche? Only you and your checkbook can decide.

All donations are tax-deductible, and can be made right here via PayPal or at the official Mustache-A-Thon web site. More information on 826 Seattle can be found at their web site or by stopping by the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Store at 8414 Greenwood Ave N in Seattle.

I thank you, my mustache thanks you, and most importantly, the kids of Seattle thank you.