The sixth year of Movember in Red Deer kicked off on Wednesday night at the Troubled Monk Brewery, which included the unveiling of a special pin-up calendar that will be sold to raise money for the men’s health campaign.

It’s called the Dad Bod for a Rad Cause calendar and it includes 13 prominent men from Red Deer posing in boudoir-styled shoots. “In his best glory,” is how Movember Red Deer president Jest Sidlowski describes it.

Meagan Parisian and Monti Layne were the ones behind the project.

Parisian said the calendar started as a joke, an idea tossed around in jest over Twitter. But in six weeks, they’ve managed to find models, volunteer photographers and produce the glossy-paged product, which will sell for $20 each at Troubled Monk, The Bra Lounge and Bistro on Gaetz. Scotiabank matches proceeds from each purchase, up to $5,000 total.

“I hope they see that this is just an awesome thing that came to fruition from something funny on Twitter,” Parisian said.

“I think they’re going to be really impressed with the quality that our volunteer photographers created, and that we were able to produce this in such a short period of time.”

Some of the models include: Central Alberta Buccaneers football player; Justin Hubert, owner of Relationship Inspired; Jeff Meier, Meierj Computer Services.

The calendar will be one of many fundraisers throughout the month, said Sidlowski. Troubled Monk is holding a silent auction and the Lacombe restaurant Cilantro and Chive will be dedicating its Burger of the Month to the cause.

Troubled Monk will also host a wrap-up party on Dec. 1.

Centre-right: Central Alberta Buccaneers player Vince Roth and friends at the unveiling of the calendar at Troubled Monk Brewery.

Movember Red Deer has raised $27,000 over the years and started numerous conversations about men’s health, Sidlowski said.

He adds that it has also evolved, starting with a focus on testicular and prostate cancer, to suicide and mental health awareness.

“It is a world movement now. Canada continues to raise the most money out of any other country in the world,” he said.

Sidlowski believes Movember’s success is partly due to the way it provides a light and fun entry point into an otherwise serious topic, an approach he said other charities are emulating.