Nik Halldorson is a pro at seeing the silver lining. Forced to part with his beard after eight long months, the fourth-year Dal Nursing student decided to raise money for Bryony House in the process.
“I was in clinical at the IWK [Health Centre] and I got an email saying that we needed to have a mandatory mask fitting,” says Nik. “Part of the stipulation of that is that you need to be clean shaven, and my heart sank.”
So he launched Beards for Bryony, a gofundme campaign to raise money for Bryony House. The Halifax shelter provides a safe haven and support services for women and families impacted by intimate partner violence and abuse.
After surpassing his original goal of $1,000 in a week, Halldorson upped the ante to $5,000. The month long campaign raised a total of $3,100, and all proceeds will go directly to the shelter to support their projects.
Under the razor
Nik teamed up with Sailor Bups Barbershop on Sackville Street to host the shave-off last month. The event, which was open to the public, also offered a barbecue by donation.
“We were yelling at people on the street saying ‘Hey, burgers for Bryony House!’ and it got a really positive response,” says Nik. “We ended up raising almost $300 that day from the barbecue alone.”
When it came time to lift the razor, a nursing colleague and generous donor who pledged $200 was given the opportunity to shave half of Nik’s face, while the other half was shaved by a barber. Over the course of his campaign, he received coverage from CBC Nova Scotia, UNews and the Dalhousie Gazette, to name a few — raising not only money, but also awareness.
The Canadian Women’s Foundation reports that half of all women in Canada have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16, and 67 per cent of all Canadians say they personally know at least one woman who has been sexually or physically assaulted. Even more alarming, approximately every six days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner.
Each year, Bryony House supplies about 470 women and children overnight accommodations, and answers over 2,500 distress calls. In addition to shelter, Bryony also provides counselling, emotional support and transitional services that strengthen the community, educate the public and empower women.
Ready for another grow
“With the national conversation right now, I thought it was a great opportunity to be a man and show we’re not all like that, and that we do want to help,” says Nik. “Also, being in nursing and being surrounded by female colleagues, you definitely get a different perspective.”
As for what’s next for the B.C. native: “I’m going to start growing it again and I would like to find other men that want to grow their beards with me up until January.”
He plans to shave it off next winter to continue raising money and awareness about the work that Bryony House does. The Beards for Bryony gofundme page is also still active and open for donations.
“Its just hair,” says Nik. “People like it, people hate it, but if we can shave it off to make money for a good cause, why not?”