ABOVE: Jeff Sauer is asking people if he should save or shave his beard this month, all to raise money for some different organizations.

FAIRMONT– Fairmont resident Jeff Sauer is putting the fate of his beard– which he’s been growing for three years– in the hands of the community during the month of November. This he’s doing to aid three different organizations with a goal to give them each $1,000.

No Shave November started as a month-long event where participants go without shaving in order to raise awareness and funds for cancer, especially prostate and testicular cancer. However, it has evolved and grown to be a way to raise awareness and funds for other causes, too.

Sauer has another twist as he’s not truly doing No Shave November, but rather Save the Beard or Shave the Beard, meaning those who donate can also vote for if he keeps his beard or shaves it. Either way, the money raised is going to three different causes.

Sauer is specifically raising funds for Fairmont Christian School, Montego Bay Christian Academy and the Fairmont Opera House.

“I’ve had some form of facial hair since I was in college but decided three years ago to grow a full beard,” Sauer explained.

He didn’t really had a good reason to grow a beard, but he also didn’t have a good reason to get rid of it until someone recently brought up the idea of No-Shave November to him.

“I all of a sudden was like, I can come up with a good reason. I figured three years (of growing it) and $1,000 a year. Three thousand dollars is my goal,” Sauer said.

As for how he picked the three organizations, Sauer shared that his children attend Fairmont Christian School and that he’s on the school board there.

“Fairmont Christian School is going through a transition. It’s been in the community eight years and we were under another school but this year we have transitioned into our own non-profit and with that there’s been some challenges, always with something new,” Sauer said.

He added that Fairmont Christian School is the only Christian school in the community that’s not sponsored by a church.

“It’s really grown in eight years. There are 40 kids there right now. It’s definitely a light for the city,” Sauer said.

Montego Bay Christian Academy is located in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He said the school was started by Jerry and Renee Winkler and that back in 2017 Sauer’s church went on a mission trip to Jamaica and he was able to go to the school and work on some projects there.

“It was greatly affected by the hurricane,” Sauer said of Hurricane Melissa which ripped through that area late last month. “They’re missing roofs and all types of things from the hurricane.”

He said that the school does amazing work and that it has multiple ties to him as his wife grew up in Jamaica while her parents did missionary work there.

“I picked it because they were in need and I thought if I was going to support something, I wanted to support this,” Sauer said.

Finally, what he’s doing is also going to support the Fairmont Opera House, which has been raising money for needed roof repairs for over a year now.

“Providing the arts and drama and classics. I remember as a kid growing up and going to community theater. I can’t imagine truthfully Fairmont without the Opera House,” Sauer said.

Sauer agreed that it’s easy to get bogged down by the amount of organizations that need help, however, he encourages people to just pick something to support.

“I think people get overwhelmed with the choices and all of the places that need it. I think picking something that has your heart and doing what you can… you spend $5 for a coffee in the morning but if you skip it once a week and donate that $5, it makes a difference,” Sauer said.

He added, “Five or $10, it makes a difference to these organizations. Three-thousand dollars sounds like a lot but you know I have 1,000 people that are my friends on Facebook. If every single one of them gave three bucks, we’d hit $3,000.”

Coming up on the season of giving, Sauer hopes people can help support these organizations by voting and having a little fun when it comes to deciding if he saves or shaves his beard. Sauer is anxious to find out the outcome himself come Nov. 30. If people vote for Sauer to shave his beard, he’s going to get it done at DaVinci’s Barbershop in Fairmont.

Voting and donating can be done through givesendgo, which Sauer said donates 100 percent of proceeds to a cause. More information can be found on his Facebook page.

To Shave the Beard: https://www.givesendgo.com/Reversenoshave?utm_source=sharelink&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=Reversenoshave&fbclid=IwY2xjawN6DR5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF5YlNlMnBrbGd5VnhBU0loc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHiVzl4_iVsY-Z7nrRqoTHCNxcbuE2FZWZwjAAEjW1v_gDgv0Ow5xzM4Oka07_aem_cXHd1eE6sMQD-nF1G2RBBw

To Save the Beard: https://www.givesendgo.com/savethebeard?utm_source=sharelink&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=savethebeard&fbclid=IwY2xjawN6DTtleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF5YlNlMnBrbGd5VnhBU0loc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHiVzl4_iVsY-Z7nrRqoTHCNxcbuE2FZWZwjAAEjW1v_gDgv0Ow5xzM4Oka07_aem_cXHd1eE6sMQD-nF1G2RBBw