2022 update: We’re 7 months away from a couple of milestones in relation to this story. First, and most important: my dad’s last scheduled oncologist appointment is in June. The one where they will likely declare him to be in remission after 7 years. Also in June? My wedding. The reason I told my dad he had to go through a second round of radiation even though he didn’t want to. “You have to do this radiation because you have to walk me down the aisle when I get married. This isn’t only about you. You stopped living solely for yourself when you decided to have kids.” (I’m a girl of few barb-tipped words. I know.)
I’m grateful that my dad chose to fight for me and I’m grateful that the medical advances in prostate cancer treatment have been made largely in part to the donations received to The Movember Foundation. You can find Mo’cakes in-store as well as online. If you want to make a cash donation, you can do that at the Movember Foundation link above or in-store.

2021 update: This past March we were introduced to an incredible man by the name of Glenn. His friends in Michigan wanted to send him a care package as he was, yet again, battling complications from prostate cancer. They found us on Google, we made the treats, and dropped them off. I shared our family’s history with prostate cancer (my dad, my granddad) with Glenn and thus began a lovely friendship that often included chocolate chip cookies (Glenn’s favourite) and lemon macarons (because his daughter loved them). Glenn passed away last month after 17 years; a length of time only possible because of the research made possible by donations to foundations like The Movember Foundation. We will always think of Glenn when making chocolate chip cookies and never take down the reminder on our wall to “Call Glenn for lemon macarons”. This year we’re raising money (via moustache sugar cookies or cash donations) in memory of our friend Glenn, a new friend who felt like an old friend. May he rest in peace.

2020 update: I wrote this blog post in November 2015. I was living and working in London, England when I received the worst news of my life – my dad had cancer. I moved home in September (for good, I thought) after his surgery wasn’t the cure we’d hoped for. After enduring a horrible course of radiotherapy requiring a 6 month wait to see if it worked, my incredible father insisted I get back on a plane to continue pursing my dreams. Fortunately my father is nearing remission (2 more years) but I know there are many for whom this is not their reality. More research is needed. More men need to be tested more frequently. More awareness needs to be raised. If you’re keen to help, we’ll be selling mo’carons in the shop for the entire month of November! You can also make a donation directly to The Movember Foundation here.

For those of you that don’t know, it’s November! But really, November means Movember.

What’s Movember you ask?

Movember started in Australia back in 2003. Thirty guys grew mustaches in the month of November, just to see if they could get the faded fashion trend to come back. After seeing the attention they could garner from the previous year, in 2004 they raised money and donated it to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. Fast forward and in the last 12 years Movember has grown to 21 participating countries, almost 5 million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas, $677 million CDN raised, and 832 men’s health projects funded. The Movember Foundation was ranked 72nd out of the top 500 non-government organizations in the world. (Source.)

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you go about making a positive change in the world.

So what does this have to do with LenJo Bakes? (more…)