Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin Launches "Shave or Grow" Facial Hair Fundraising Application

Application Encourages Citizens to Vote on Gov. Bevin's Facial Hair to Benefit a Good Cause

Gov. Bevin recently launched an online donation application that provides citizens of the Commonwealth an opportunity to donate to the First Lady's #WeAreKY foundation while simultaneously voting on Gov. Bevin's next beard style or become clean shaven.

Shave or Grow (https://governor.ky.gov/shaveorgrow/) allows Kentuckians to donate a minimum of $1.00 (equal to one vote) to benefit the First Lady's #WeAreKY foundation, a foundation dedicated to the betterment of the lives of Kentucky's children through education, promotion and financial support of organizations supporting children in foster care. Citizens can go online to vote for their favorite beard style: The Samson, the Anchorman, the Fu Manchu, the Colonel or the Clean Shave. Once the voting is finished and the final donation amounts (votes) are calculated, Gov. Bevin will tailor his beard to whichever style receives the highest number of donations.

Kentucky Interactive, LLC (aka Kentucky.gov), in partnership with the Governor's Office, supported the initiative by providing an online voting and donation service for shave or grow voters. From computer to mobile phone, access to the online service is supported across multiple devices, giving users a chance to vote for their favorite style and donate to a worthy cause through a secure mobile-friendly platform. "Voters" can check back regularly at https://governor.ky.gov/shaveorgrow/ and see the running total of donations for each beard style. Working with the Governor's team, Kentucky Interactive was honored to engage on this initiative and deliver this service for the Governor's Office and the First Lady's Foundation.

"We appreciate Kentucky Interactive's work to make the Governor's ‘Shave or Grow' application come to life," said Elizabeth Kuhn, Communications Director for Gov. Bevin. "This innovative app provides Kentuckians with a fun, user-friendly experience while empowering them to easily donate to a very important cause — supporting the Commonwealth's foster care and adoption programs through First Lady Glenna Bevin's #WeAreKY! Foundation."

The Governor's Shave or Grow Online Donation application was developed under a self-funded model, at no cost to Kentucky taxpayers. The solution joins over 400 convenient digital solutions created for the Commonwealth of Kentucky through its eGovernment partnership with Kentucky Interactive, LLC.

The application will remain open to the public until Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 11 a.m. ET and can be accessed via the Governor's website: https://governor.ky.gov/ShaveOrGrow.

About Kentucky.gov

Kentucky.gov is a public-private partnership between the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Kentucky Interactive, LLC that helps state government entities Web-enable their information and services. Frankfort-based Kentucky Interactive is the Commonwealth's official digital government services partner that provides secure, mobile-friendly solutions allowing government agencies of any size to conduct business online and improve public access to information. Kentucky Interactive is part of digital government firm NIC's EGOV family of companies.

About NIC

NIC Inc. EGOV is the nation's premier provider of innovative digital government solutions and secure payment processing, which help make government interactions more accessible for everyone through technology. The family of NIC companies has developed a library of more than 13,000 digital government services for more than 5,500 federal, state, and local government agencies. Among these solutions is the ground-breaking personal assistant for government, Gov2Go, delivering citizens personalized reminders and a single platform for all government interactions. More information is available at www.egov.com.

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