Cheeky Comox Valley calendar makes a splash for men\u2019s mental health<\/p>\n
Published 12:39 pm Wednesday, September 2, 2026<\/p>\n
A group of Vancouver Island men are baring it all (almost) to remind the world that dudes matter too.<\/p>\n
Under the creative direction of Comox Valley photographer Rhonda Posegate, gents of all shapes and sizes are posing for a cheeky \u201cdude-oir\u201d calendar called Snack Pack Daddies in support of men\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more dad bods, the better,\u201d said Posegate. \u201cWe want real: if you got a dad bod, we want that; if you got a hard bod, we want that. We want everything, and you\u2019re going to let it all hang out.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Snack Pack Daddies calendar is a collection of local lads posing in a variety of locations: expect cheesecake with a layer of cheekiness and a sprinkle of sass, all served up in good taste and for a good cause.<\/p>\n
Snack Pack Daddies arose out of one of Posegate\u2019s dude-oir photo shoots: a lighthearted take on the boudoir genre of photography. When Posegate casually shared the photo on Facebook, she was surprised at the response it received.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe post went nuts. There were 400 comments and a whole bunch of likes. And then someone said, \u2018You should turn that into a fundraising calendar!\u2019 I said, \u2018If I got the people, I\u2019d absolutely do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The model applications came pouring in. \u201cIt just exploded. I put them all in a group chat because it\u2019s like herding cats with these guys\u2026 there are about 60 of them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A campaign for men\u2019s mental health was the perfect calendar cause, and Posegate said many of the models reached out to her because they have struggled themselves.<\/p>\n
According to a 2025 study<\/a> by the Canadian Men\u2019s Health Foundation<\/a>, men\u2019s mental health had declined significantly since the previous year.<\/p>\n Sixty-four per cent of the men reported moderate-to-high levels of stress. Twenty-three per cent are at risk of moderate-severe depression, while 50 per cent are at risk of social isolation. Sixty-seven per cent said they have never sought professional mental health support for their struggles. <\/p>\n Posegate teamed up with an organization that\u2019s keepin\u2019 it as real as the calendar Daddies: the BC Whiskey Wizards. This group of men supporting men is on a mission to let other dudes know they are not alone.<\/p>\n \u201cThe BC Whiskey Wizards is a group of guys who don\u2019t know each other but treat each other like family,\u201d said group co-founder Ron Tuck.<\/p>\n The Wizards formed on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the women\u2019s \u201cWine Ninjas\u201d group, men would sign up to leave gift packages on other guys\u2019 doorsteps (an act they refer to as \u201czapping\u201d) as a way to stay connected during the days of social distancing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe group grew, and we started to see a shift as Covid ended, for mental health support and also for stuff like, \u2018How do I fix my lawnmower?\u2019\u201d said Tuck. \u201cThe shift happened organically.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, the Wizards\u2019 main focus is on supporting other men in need. They fundraise, receive grocery store donations through FoodMesh for hamper zapping, and organize events, skills training, and other opportunities for men to get together. The Wizards also have campaigns for causes like children\u2019s hospice, anti-bullying, and LGBTQ2S+ initiatives.<\/p>\n Still, brothers supporting brothers is at the heart of the Wizards\u2019 work, and new members are blown away by the support they get in the private Facebook group, says Tuck. The administrators themselves have even taken mental health support training.<\/p>\n \u201cMen have been told for generations to suck it up, go to work, never talk about their feelings. We need to get things off our chest,\u201d said Tuck.<\/p>\n The Snack Pack Daddies calendar will go on sale in the fall; follow Ohhh.Snap photography on Facebook to stay up-to-date on its release. The BC Whiskey Wizards are on Facebook and Instagram, and their private Facebook group is open to anybody who identifies as a man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cheeky Comox Valley calendar makes a splash for men\u2019s mental health Published 12:39 pm Wednesday, September 2, 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[103,61,60,410,411],"class_list":["post-614118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}