Regina sailors make it personal

It was 20 years in the making, and a mere minute to lose, but it was all worth it in the end. PO1 Darren Peat’s mustache succumbed to a $,6,225 fundraising goal, and the sailor braved the shaved on HMCS Regina’s flight deck. Photo courtesy HMCS Regina

SLt M.X. Déry, MARPAC PA ~

When HMCS Regina’s crew sets out to do something, they get the job done.

So when this year’s National Defence Workplace Charitable Campaign (NDWCC) season kicked off, Regina’s crew had their sights on surpassing the previous year’s contribution, and they did. They managed to raise $41,525, a 23 per cent increase on last year’s already substantial sum.

“I believe the dramatic increase this year was a direct response to the day sail Regina put on for the Chris Knox Foundation,” said Lt(N) Gregory Kuhn, NDWCC co-ordinator in Regina. “Donating this year became personal – you could now put a face to the organization you were donating to.”

The Chris Knox Foundation, Regina’s official charity, will get the lion’s share of the funds – over $20,500 – raised through the ship’s handful of fundraising events. But the highlight of the events was the shaving of heads and mustaches on the flight deck.

PO1 Lee Richardson helped raise the funds to shave Lt(N) Tracy Tkachuk’s mustache, but soon discovered that Lt(N) Tkachuk had also been raising funds to shave PO1 Richardson’s head.

“When you thought I had the best of Tkachuk, I did not,” said PO1 Richardson. “Remember it’s for the children!”

PO1 Darren Peat set a high price for his classic mustache, thinking his lofty goal of $5,000 would never be reached.

“PO Richardson suggested it [the mustache shave] so I asked my wife; she said ‘no way!’ So I said name a price, and she said $5,000 assuming there was no way the ship would ever make it,” said PO1 Peat.

It took one day to raise over $6,225 to win the shaving rights to his mustache.

“Wife hated it, said I look like Charlie Brown without any facial hair. I didn’t even recognize myself in the mirror since it has been about 20 years since I have been clean shaven,” he said.

Lt(N) Gregory Kuhn explains his ship’s fundraising success.

“The reason Regina has successfully raised over $75,000 over the past two years for NDWCC is because our ship’s company is absolutely committed to the policy of giving back to the community that we serve.”