Nothing But Nets

For World Malaria Day, a group of UMC members thought they would show their support for Nothing But Nets by biking for 238 miles! The group started the four-day bike ride in Montgomery, TX and concluded in Ft. Worth, TX. View the map of their ride! Several churches along the route opened their doors to cyclists, providing them with food and a place to sleep. The ride ended on April 23rd, marking the first day of General Conference, a gathering of United Methodists from all over the world.

The bikers originally set a fund-raising goal of $100,000.  After nearly 240 miles, hundreds of individuals contacted for donations, and untold man hours of effort, the Nothing But Sweat bike riders raised $156,144.00!  Check out the Nothing But Sweat blog if you’d like to see more pictures from the event, and congratulations to everyone!

The "Georgetown Hoyas: Operation Bug Off!" Netraiser Team's events around campus and Georgetown are in full swing now!  Let your inner Jordan shine at their 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament on Saturday, April 19th at noon.  The tournament, with registration fees going towards purchasing long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets to help prevent malaria, will take place at Yates Field House.  The first 75 people to register get free Nothing But Nets T-shirts and winners will be rewarded with gift certificates to Saxby's, the Tombs, and Dixie Liquors.  To find out more and to register, pick up a form at the front desk of Yates or register online at:
http://nbngeorgetown.googlepages.com/nbn.

On Monday, April 14th, Georgetown students would like to invite members of the DC community to join together, raise their glasses high, and toast to the health of those in Africa!  The "Georgetown Hoyas: Operation Bug Off!" Netraiser Team will be hosting a bar night fund-raiser for those who are 21+ at Rhino Bar & Pumphouse from 8:00PM - 11:00PM.  Proceeds will be used to fund the purchase of bed nets!

The bar night is one of many events planned that lead up to World Malaria Day and the symposium held at Georgetown's Gaston Hall.  Past events include a 5K race, Trivia Night, and Domino's Dough Raising Night which have brought in several hundred dollars!  In addition to raising money to send nets and save lives, the Georgetown team hopes to get their fellow students, the faculty, and the community involved in the prevention of a disease that affects hundreds of millions of people each year.  We hope you can join us for the bar night.  Cheers!

Woody Lynch, President of Reverend Marvin’s Gourmet BBQ Sauce, raised money for nets at a recent BBQ competition in Myrtle Beach, SC. Reverend Marvin’s has pledged to donate $1 per bottle sold to Nothing But Nets! In the course of several hours at the BBQ competition, Lynch sold 200 bottles of sauce.

“We want to emphasize that this is just the beginning of our efforts with Nothing But Nets,” Lynch stated, “from now on, for every bottle of Reverend Marvin’s Gourmet BBQ Sauce that is sold through our web site, we will donate $1 to this great cause. The prospect of knowing when we ship out an order of our sauce that we just helped save the life of a child is overwhelming. We’re honored to be a small part of Nothing But Nets.” For more information on Reverend Marvin’s, click here.

When it was time for Naomi Kodama to tell her parents what gift she was hoping to receive for her tenth birthday, she told them that she didn't want any gifts at all. Instead, she hoped to use her birthday to help others. Naomi wanted to have a birthday party where guests could make donations for life-saving bed nets. “There are people who barely have anything and we need to help them,” she wrote in the party invitation.

JCI Secretary-General Kodama was proud of his daughter's generous gesture, and shared the invitation to Naomi's bed net birthday party with his staff. Despite the difficult weather during the night of the party, guests all had a great time at the Adrenaline Zone and Demolition Ball celebrating Naomi's birthday and preventing malaria!