Jesse Lash can’t remember the last time he bought shaving cream.
Tuesday will be the first time he’s picked up a razor in nearly two months, and he’ll be the first to admit that his new look is as scary as it is hairy.
“I look like a hideous caveman,” said the UF marketing junior. “People probably just assume I don’t shower or bathe — I do.”
But it’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make.
Lash is in the final stretch of his not-so-clean-cut days after participating in Octobeard and No Shave November, monthlong events that challenge participants to drop the razor and go au naturale.
“I haven’t shaved since Sept. 30,” Lash said. “I’m literally counting the days.”
Although No Shave November participants often compete in the monthlong challenge for fun, Lash’s shaving hiatus was for a cause he handpicked back in October.
As of Sunday, he has raised $732.42 for NotFashionable, a South Florida-based nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting hunger and starvation in children.
Lash set up a PayPal account to collect donations and linked it to the Facebook event page he created.
“In the end, the focus is not me competing,” he said. “I’m trying to raise money for this great cause, and it’s been unbelievable.”
Lash said 30,000 children die from hunger every day.
His donation will help NotFashionable plant a farm for a community in Swaziland that doesn’t have a sustainable food source.
Including his contribution, Lash said the organization was able to raise the $8,000 needed for this endeavor.
And for Lash, this is why he has sworn off shaving for the past two months.
“I think that I have helped connect people to a cause,” he said. “I’m just a kid who isn’t shaving. The focus is really on the people who have sacrificed and chosen to give.”
Lash, who originally intended to only participate until he raised $100, is encouraging others to “man up.”
“Sure, you’re going to look a little homeless,” he said. “But you’re going to be saving the lives of so many kids that are less fortunate.”
