Nothing But Nets campaign gets Advance designation
Dec. 15, 2006
By Melina Pavlides*
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- United Methodists are being challenged to a full court press in the fight against malaria.
Now church members can help slam dunk malaria by supporting the global
Nothing But Nets campaign through the United Methodist Church's
second-mile giving program, the Advance for Christ and His Church. An
Advance number -- #982015 -- has been added for Nothing But Nets, a
global anti-malaria campaign. One hundred percent of each gift to the
Advance will go to the purchase and distribution of insecticide-treated
bed nets to protect families against disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Partners in Nothing But Nets include the people of The United Methodist Church, the United Nations Foundation, Sports Illustrated,
the National Basketball Association's Foundation NBA Cares, Millennium
Promise and the Measles Initiative. The United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries and United Methodist Communications are coordinating the
church's participation in the campaign.
A Web site, www.NothingButNets.net,
was launched Nov. 14 and online donations can be made through that
site. The people of The United Methodist Church have a partner page on
the site. United Methodist Communications has a special Web page through
www.UMC.org in conjunction with the campaign's site. Both sites feature additional malaria initiatives of the denomination.
"Now that the fundraising portion of the Web site is in gear, we are
ready to go full-steam ahead with the broader grassroots support for
this initiative," said Grace Hall of the United Nations Foundation. "We
want the Web site to be the central hub for all of our fundraising
partners and for people to find fun and creative ways to bolster support
for their teams.
"With the commitment of the people of the United Methodist Church, the
goal for the NBN campaign right now is to get the word out to their
constituents utilizing all possible communications channels in efforts
to drive them to the NBN Web site to start a team and invite others to
join," Hall added. "Within the context of The United Methodist Church
alone, that means thousands of congregations all over the country. We
have made it easy for those who want to join or sponsor a team to locate
that team by entering the team's name or captain's first or last name."
Nothing But Nets was created by the United Nations Foundation in May, inspired by a column written by Sports Illustrated's
Rick Reilly. The program was recognized Dec. 14 during the White House
Summit on Malaria in Washington, which also highlighted other public and
private-sector initiatives on malaria.
Inspiring team spirit
The Nothing But Nets Web team has built a site that is designed to be
user-friendly, with features that individual team members can use to
help them recruit members and make their pages fun and creative. For
instance, teams can upload their photos and post messages to the
bulletin board to talk about their experiences, challenge others and
share their enthusiasm for the cause.
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A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose
Muji
Bakare (center) receives a mosquito net from Ekanolo Oluremi, a nurse
working with the Nothing But Nets campaign, at his elementary school in
Lagos, Nigeria.
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| Muji
Bakare (center) receives a mosquito net from Ekanolo Oluremi, a nurse
working with the Nothing But Nets campaign, at his elementary school in
Lagos, Nigeria. More than 100,000 insecticide-treated bed nets were
delivered to Nigeria as part of the program. A delegation including
representatives from the United Nations Foundation, Sports Illustrated
and The United Methodist Church visited Nigeria Nov. 7-11 to evaluate
the campaign's effectiveness. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo
#061420. Accompanies UMNS story #730. 12/15/06 |
"We want the Web-based functioning of the campaign to inspire team
spirit and competition among participating teams while making it easy
for friends, family, co-workers and others to join or sponsor teams,"
said Shannon Raybold, Nothing But Nets Web-team builder.
The top four fundraising teams will be featured on the Netraiser team
page. Teams from different churches, schools, youth groups and even
different states can challenge each other to see who can come up with
the most innovative and creative ways to raise money for the cause. All
of the Netraiser teams will be able to identify their affiliation to
partners.
The Nothing But Nets Web site also hosts several downloadable tools for
Netraising teams and individuals. More toolkits are being developed by
United Methodist Communications for use by Web teams as well. These
tools include high-resolution logos and graphics, information about the
nets and the plight of malaria in developing countries, details on how
to start a Netraising team and frequently asked questions.
Low cost, high impact
"We want people to remember that, above all, $10 buys a net, distributes
that net and educates families on the proper installation and use of
the nets and other ways to guard and protect against malaria," Hall
said.
One net can cover a family of four for up to four years, campaign officials have said.
The campaign will be highlighted at the United Methodist Board of
Discipleship's Youth 2007 gathering July 11-15 in Greensboro, N.C.
The Measles Initiative, a Nothing But Nets partner, will be distributing
the nets throughout communities in Africa in 2007 and 2008. The first
net distribution -- 150,000 in Nigeria -- occurred in October. Another
net distribution is set for January in Lagos, Nigeria, with NBA legend
Sam Perkins. Partners in the Measles Initiative include the American Red
Cross, Centers for Disease Control, United Nations Foundation, UNICEF
and the World Health Organization.
Malaria infects more than 500 million people each year, and more than 1
million die from it -- 75 percent of them children under age 5.
Gifts to the Advance can be sent to Advance GCFA P.O. Box 9068, GPO New York, NY 10087-9068 or made online at
http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/advance/donate.cfm?code=982015.
*Pavlides is a freelance writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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