Nothing But Nets

Yesterday was all about awareness and bringing people together to fight malaria in Atlanta. Our rally at Woodruff Park with Mayor Shirley Franklin, United Nations Foundation Founder and Chairman Ted Turner, and various Nothing But Nets’ Atlanta partners showed us just how much this issue is touching everyone in different ways.

Our bed net display was truly a sight to see. As we rounded the corner, we saw 50 white bed nets swaying in the wind throughout the park.  The bed net display remained in Woodruff Park all day, allowing hundreds of people to take a look as they walked through.

The Nothing But Nets team can’t stop raving about today's event at the Ron Clark Academy, a unique middle school in Atlanta. From the moment we walked in the door, we were intrigued by the photos of students traveling the world, the colorful maps and mosaics, and the giant blue slide that swiveled into the lobby down from the second floor.

But then we met the students. This group of sixth and seventh graders was vibrant, polite, and motivated. The students turned out to be excellent freestyle rappers, too! After our team gave them a background on Nothing But Nets and malaria, the kids put our tagline, "Send a Net. Save a Life,” to a rousing beat, and one student, Kennedy, added some great off-the-cuff lyrics. It was a perfect start to the event.

Hey everyone- we're excited to kick off our first event tonight for the Nothing But Nets Atlanta City Tour!

If you still don't have plans for the evening, come on over to Phillips Arena for a Nothing But Nets night during the Atlanta Hawks basketball game. At the game, you can learn more about what the campaign does and how you can get involved to spread the word about malaria and send nets and save lives. So grab some friends and get to the game!

We have some other cool stuff going on this week with our local partners and supporters, so keep checking back here to see what's up - and for more information, take a look at our Atlanta City Tour page!

We hope to see you out there this week!

We are very pleased to announce that NothingButNets.net was recently awarded a Web Award for Outstanding Achievement in Website Development by the Web Marketing Association!

The judges in particular liked our Net-O-Meter, use of photos and video, and our strong connections to social networks like Facebook and YouTube. One of the judges said the site convinced him to donate, which as you know, translates to another life saved!

We at Nothing But Nets and the United Nations Foundation are very excited and flattered to receive this award. But as always, we couldn't have done it without you, our supporters! It's your stories and your efforts that help make this website so awesome! We're here to help you learn about malaria and how you can get involved in the best way possible - and we love that you love NothingButNets.net!

Last Friday night we held our final event of the Philadelphia City Tour - a faith leaders' dinner hosted at Hopewell United Methodist Church. Bishop Peggy Johnson, who was recently instated as the Bishop of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, joined roughly 100 faith leaders to discuss the issue of malaria and the opportunity for people of faith to lead the efforts to combat this devastating disease.

Hopewell UMC's own - and Nothing But Nets MVPs - Lynda and Katherine Commale shared their inspiring story of how they have become involved in Nothing But Nets and the path it had taken them on, from New York to the White House to CNN. To read more about their efforts and see their CNN interview, click here. 
 

Our last day in Philadelphia started off with 120 enthusiastic students at Mann Elementary School.  A classroom at Mann Elementary raised funds for Nothing But Nets for two consecutive years. We definitely thought this was something worth recognizing.  Joining our Nothing But Nets team that morning was Minister Byrd, from the Mayor’s Office of Faith Based Initiatives, and Lynda Commale, one half of the mother-daughter team that raised $60,000 for bed nets over the last couple of years. 

After viewing a couple of malaria videos and listening to an informative malaria learning session with Adrianna Logalbo, our energetic group of 4th graders were called up on stage to receive a certificate of appreciation from our campaign, as well as a very warm hug from Lynda.

Nothing But Nets' second stop of the Philadelphia City Tour last week was at the University of Pennsylvania to host a malaria workshop.  Dr. Akhil Vaidya, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Drexel University College of Medicine; and Dr. David Roos, Professor of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, joined us as expert speakers for the event.  Markley Foreman and Rodrigo Barcenas, two University of Pennsylvania seniors and Nothing But Nets supporters, also participated on the panel.

Deputy Director Adrianna Logalbo opened the workshop with an introduction of the speakers and by noting the importance of malaria prevention.  Dr. Vaidya then took the floor with a detailed presentation about the global malaria burden and disease agents.  Next, Dr. Roos discussed integrated malaria control strategies, including drugs, vaccines, insecticides, bed nets and other measures.  

Combining their experiences in entertainment, fashion and professional sports, three friends, Ben Tenzer, Michael Tellem, and Whitney Port (from MTV’s reality show "The Hills") recently teamed up to save lives from malaria.  A week ago, they held a fundraiser for Nothing But Nets in New York City!

The birthday party/fundraiser was hosted at Il Bastardo, an Italian Steakhouse & Wine Bar in the heart of Chelsea. In order to attend the event, Ben, Mike, and Whitney asked friends to make a $50 donation to Nothing But Nets.