Firefighter Graeme Still has sacrificed his pride and joy for what he reckons is a great cause.
Yesterday, the signature moustache the Dunedin-based Otago deputy principal rural fire officer has been sporting for 38 years was shaved off to raise funds to help 18-year-old Kakanui rural firefighter Meagan Bell make her first trip to Auckland to take part in the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge.
Meagan is the first Otago rural firefighter to participate, which prompted Mr Still to offer losing his moustache to help her.
''It's a big deal - a young girl willing to give it a go. It's a good cause,'' he said after losing the moustache.
Initially, Megan used a trimmer to shorten the whiskers in the ''Great Shave Off'' at Bloke barber, in Dunedin.
''But I wasn't going to let her loose with the razor. We got an expert to do that,'' Mr Still said.
His donation to the cause has raised more than $500 ''and still counting''.
People could still contribute.
Some of his workmates said ''they didn't know I had such a nice smile. Others said it made me look younger.''
But he was not sure about the reaction of his partner, who had never seen him without the moustache.
''She'll quite like it, I'd say,'' he said, slightly uncertainly.
Mr Still (54) is not sure whether he will grow another moustache.
Meagan set the Sky Tower challenge as ''one of life's goals'' after joining the Kakanui Rural Fire Party two years ago.
The opportunity came last year and she is now one of a limited field of 750 in the event on May 23.
As part of the event, she needs to raise money to get there and for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand, a national charity that supports patients and their families living with blood cancers like leukaemia and related conditions.
Each entrant has to raise at least $1000. Meagan is aiming for $4000 or more.
She has a Facebook page - 2015 Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Climb Meagan Bell - through which donations can be made.
