Nearly 20 teachers at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School stopped shaving on Thanksgiving and paid $10 to enter the school’s beard-growing contest, proceeds of which will go to the Greentree Shelter at the National Center For Children and Families.

On Thursday, staff and students will vote on the best beard by casting ballots (each vote requires a $1 donation) during lunch.

This year, candidates were allowed to have student running mates, a strategy a few chose (presumably to up their chances).

The teachers and their beards are to the left.

The Greentree Shelter, at the NCCF’s Greentree Road facility, serves as a transitional home for homeless families, most of which are single mothers caring for children.

In November, philanthropist Jeffrey Slavin donated a two-story model lighthouse to the Center for use as a playhouse by children at the shelter.

Photo via Tim Gilmore