Shave My Beard for Charity

My name is Logan Leger and I have a beard. An epically magnificent beard. If you know me, you’ve no doubt seen the beard; if you don’t, you’ve still likely heard of it. It has a personality of its own and is respected enough to be referenced in the public record of the City of Baton Rouge. It’s the kind of beard that makes ordinary people stop me on the street and request a fist bump. It’s the kind of beard that makes friends, scares small children, and gets me profiled by the TSA for “secondary screening”. It’s a beard that transcends mere facial hair—its intertwined into my identity and is as much a part of who I am as anything else. The beard is me and I am the beard.

And with your help, I’m going to shave it off.

My wonderful girlfriend told me recently that before she’d ever agree to marry me, she wanted to see what I looked like without the beard. She’s never known me without it and, quite honestly, I look like a middle schooler without any facial hair. I think she just wants to make sure she knows what she’s getting herself in to. Fair enough—time for the beard to come off.

But you don’t just shave a beard like this off. It requires more than a mere Gillette. The Best A Man Can Get isn’t going to get the job done. It requires more pomp and circumstance. It has as much purpose in this life as I do. It craves that purpose as much as anyone else.

That’s when it hit me—in a moment of mind-beard melding. I could band together a group of friends, family, and some anonymous internet strangers and use the debearding to raise money for a good cause. So, I’m raising money for Triumph Kitchen.

Triumph Kitchen is one of my favorite charities. (If you haven’t heard of them yet, The Advocate has a good article on their grand opening and NOLA has a good article on their recent move.) Their mission is to give at-risk and disadvantaged youth a career in the hospitality industry. Chris Wadsworth, the former chef at Restaurant IPO and one of Louisiana Cookin’ magazine’s 2013 Chefs to Watch, and his wife Sommer train kids in restaurant skills—including cooking, waiting, coffeehouse and more—and life skills—such as budgeting, résumé writing and job interviewing—every semester. Although each kid costs $2,500 each semester to train, the program is completely at no-cost to them. And the results have been magnificent in the short time that they’ve been open.

I’m lucky to count Chris and Sommer amongst my group of friends—and they’re card-carrying members of the beard fan club—and I’ve seen—and tasted!—first-hand the tremendous work that they’re doing.

My goal is to raise $2,500, which is the cost for one student’s tuition for a semester. Through GoFundMe you can donate directly to Triumph Kitchen—you’ll even get a receipt for your tax deductions. Please, donate what you can. Even a single dollar—yes, just one buck—will help us change a kid’s life (and debeard my face). For those who can help us at higher levels, I’ve added some tantalizing rewards. You can take a razor to my face during the beard-off, buy naming rights for the beard, and even buy a Workbeer reservation.

At the end of the campaign, on September 17th, the great debearding will happen in Town Square downtown on North Boulevard at 3:30 PM. Come out and watch Micah Nickens of Gaudet Bros masterfully excavate the beard, enjoy some food prepared by Triumph Kitchen students and celebrate the end of a successful fundraising.

Please, join me in this campaign and together we can help Chris and Sommer make a difference in a kid’s life (and also shave my beard).