Grow Your Beard, Grow Your Heart

Men across the nation have burly faces full of hair this month in their effort—or since they aren’t shaving, maybe it’s a lack thereof—to take a stand against cancer. The idea behind the tradition is to raise awareness of cancer by growing out facial hair, which many cancer patients lack. The American Cancer Society promotes donating the money usually spent on shaving and grooming for the month to cancer prevention and education efforts instead.

But a donation to certain cancer charities can do more harm than good. Some charities, such as the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen, fund cruel experiments on animals. Scientists may have found the cure for cancer in mice, but that doesn’t help us find a cure for the disease in humans, a completely different species.

For those who want to say no to these archaic, cruel, ineffective tests, which is nearly everyone alive, only donate to cancer charities that fund or conduct superior animal-free research, such as the Cancer Support Community, the Children’s Oncology Group, Gateway for Cancer Research, the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, and others.

While your beard may have reached a horrifying length and thickness, at least your charitable efforts don’t have to contribute to the horrifying acts done to animals who are tormented in cancer experiments.