BALTIMORE — Ted Lasso. Super Mario. Don Corleone.
What do they all have in common? Mustaches.
And a local man is sharing his impersonations of these famous 'staches by putting them into a calendar for charity.
This is the second calendar for the Mors-ache Project, started by Chandler Morse. It's a project that grew out of boredom at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, when Morse decided to grow out a mustache. His brother told him he looked like Ned Flanders from the Simpsons, so Morse dressed like the character and snapped a picture.
"It was kind of at the peak of COVID when I think everyone needed a laugh and so everyone laughed a lot. And we're like, this is comedy," he said.
He continued to dress as other famous people with mustaches. Then a friend bet him to do the Lorax from Dr. Seuss, with a donation to a charity of his choice, and that spurred the idea to put his pictures into a calendar for 2021. He donated all of the proceeds to GEDCO Cares in the Govans neighborhood in North Baltimore.
READ: Mustache fun turns into fundraiser for local food pantry
GEDCO Cares provides resources to low-income families including eviction and prescription assistance, employment services and a food pantry.
"We love GEDCO Cares. They have a food bank down the street, a lot of direct services, you go in there and its food on shelves that folks are taking off," he said.
Morse plans to donate all of the proceeds from his 2022 calendar to GEDCO again. This edition features pictures of Morse dressed as Ted Lasso, Justin Bieber, Nintendo's Super Mario and former Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. He goes to great lengths for the perfect photo and a good laugh.
"Those were not shoulder pads, those were wash clothes that were underneath my jersey to try to make it look like I had shoulder pads on," he said with a laugh.
His efforts are appreciated by both his fans and the staff at GEDCO. The non-profit is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. They are grateful for Morse's support as they continue to see high demand for their services, especially the food pantry.
"Its been a year of uncertainty which also brings fear. Lord knows what impact we’re going to see from this years ahead. But something like that, that act of kindness which is amazing to me just to see the acts of kindness that we’ve experienced over the last year and a half, it keeps you going," said Nichole Battle, CEO of GEDCO.
Morse plans to keep this project going, ready to tackle the next recognizable facial hair.
"There's a lot more famous mustaches out there than one would think. There's a lot of content to choose from," he said.
For details on where to buy a 2022 Mors-ache Project calendar, click here to go to Morse's Instagram page.
GEDCO plans to sell the calendars at their Thanksgiving Tribute event on November 11 at the B&O Railroad Museum. Click here for more details about the event.
