Nothing But Nets

A few weeks ago, Nothing But Nets Director Elizabeth Gore visited Shepard of the Heart United Methodist Church in Pearland, Texas.

Being from this part of Texas, she was incredibly proud that this church is engaged with the campaign. Reverend Wayne Calder, Senior Pastor at Shepard, led the Sweat for Nets bike ride that raised $156,000 for nets! 

A couple weeks ago, Team Buzzill Iron Girls swam biked and ran their way to send nets and save lives for Nothing But Nets. This all girl team, including Elizabeth Gore and Shawn Parell of the UN Foundation, worked together to raise almost $10,000 on their Netraiser Team.

The Iron Girl competition included thousands of women of all ages.  The TriColumbia Association donated $1,000 to the team in honor of all these kick-butt athletes.  

On Sunday, August 31, over 1 million people will run the Human Race and raise funds for good causes. And I am one of them!

Three causes will benefit from this unprecedented event, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – the premier humanitarian agency working support 33 million refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) around the world.

The UN Foundation's partnership with thinkMTV has expanded to include awareness of the global issues the Foundation works on through a new MTV series, "Exiled." The show throws teens from another popular series from the network, "My Super Sweet 16," into developing countries so they can experience things like poverty, disease, and searching for food.

Tonight's episode brings Ava to Thailand, where she must sleep under a bed net to prevent being bitten by mosquitoes carrying malaria. That's where Nothing But Nets comes in. As you know, our director, Elizabeth Gore, recently visited the Thai-Burmese border to distribute bed nets to a refugee camp with First Lady Laura Bush. Now we've got a video about her trip, highlighted on thinkMTV's Exiled page. Check it out and find out how we're working with MTV to spread awareness about global issues, particularly malaria.

Hey, do you like to do kind acts for complete strangers? No? Then read no further!

To those of you still reading, I have an act of kindness to share with you! It occurred at NYC's legendary Holcombe Rucker Park, the world mecca of playground basketball, and it was perpetrated by a particularly shiny group of youngish men and women. In fact, the folks behind this act of kindness were so darn kind, we should capitalize this act--thus, an Act Of Kindness!  In fact, maybe quotations are also called for: "Act Of Kindness"!

No. That's pushing it. Capitalized Act is all that's really called for. You're right, let's not overreact.

What about italics?  OK, jeez, I'm just asking. We'll stick with Act Of Kindness.

And just what was said act, you ask?

We are talking of course, about the first inaugural NOTHING BUT NETS CAVANAGH CLASSIC Charity Hoops game involving local legendary streetball players, celebrities of Film, TV and stage, the youngsters from the local New Heights organization and a guy dressed as a giant mosquito.  (Winner of most dedicated intern EVER; our friend Axel!)   

On July 19th, I had the pleasure of joining Junior Chamber International at the United Nations for their Global Compaq Summit on Corporate Social Responsibility. 

At a keynote address I congratulated JCI for their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and their objective to raise funds for 1 million mosquito nets through Nothing But Nets.   

I couldn’t believe my eyes last Monday when I was standing with the Nothing But Nets team in Harlem’s historical Holcombe Rucker Park, surrounded by celebrities, athletes, kids and a life-sized mosquito! 

The sun was shining and the music bumping as about 16 celebrity players lined up on the court to play in the inaugural Cavanagh Classic basketball game.  Tom Cavanagh, actor, producer and director, and his wife Maureen organized this fantastic event to raise funds and awareness for Nothing But Nets!  (Stay tuned for a special blog from the Cavanaghs about the game!)

I recently had the unique opportunity to meet the Commale family for a photo shoot for Good Play, an FAO Schwarz magazine highlighting young philanthropists and that will feature Katherine on the cover this fall.  The experience introduced me to a new level global giving; one where a single caring child can make a difference in the lives of thousands of children halfway across the world.  To say I was inspired would be an understatement. 

The energy at the shoot was electrifying.  Katherine had a team of two art directors, a makeup artist and photographer working with her right from the start.  It was fun to watch her model different outfits to find the perfect one to capture her young spirit.  The playful attire was paired with fairy wings and a crown of stars – both made from bed nets – to depict a fairy princess. 

Well, Nothing But Nets friends, it is time for me to put my money where my mouth is! After asking all of you to raise funds to prevent malaria, it is my turn to send nets and save lives.

With five other awesome women, we are running, swimming and biking for the Columbia Iron Girl Triathlon. Guess our name......?  Team Buzzkill Iron Girls!

The Nothing But Nets team wrapped up an amazing trip on the Burmese-Thai border by planning a fall distribution of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated nets.  The nets will be distributed to the refugees situated within the three camps and surrounding clinics along the border, starting with the Mae La camp.

The First Lady Laura Bush committed these nets during her trip to Thailand on August 7. There she talked about the high malaria rates of those individuals passing back and forth between borders. She also thanked you - Nothing But Nets supporters - for your ability to send nets and save lives.

A big thanks to the 670 men, women and children who came out for the Silver Stars annual 5K run/walk for Nothing But Nets! As an athlete, I work out almost every day. However, it is rare to participate in an event where people are simultaneously working towards creating healthier individuals and a healthier world!

I met two adorable little boys who were participating in the race with their parents.  One of them noticed the mosquito on my "Buzzkill" t-shirt and informed me that he didn't like mosquitoes. He went on to say, "Whenever I see a mosquito, I just hit him like this" (and starts slapping an imaginary mosquito on his arm).  

Today, UNHCR hosted the United Nations Foundation for an intimate look into the Mae La Refugee camp along the Thai-Burmese border. There, 40,000 individuals have been cared for and resided for 24 years.

Refugee camps are unique in that agencies like UNHCR must provide food, shelter, education, protection and medical care. There is no short term fix, as most children in this camp know no other life.

We toured homes, schools and two clinics. The overworked, amazing doctors showed us the diseases they deal with from tuberculosis to malaria.

Thanks to a new malaria awareness campaign that our partners Roll Back Malaria and ExxonMobil created, Summer Olympics TV viewers will see some different ads popping up during the primetime hours on NBC, starting on August 8. 

A new spot featuring our MVP Dr. Steven Phillips, explains why malaria is such an important global issue and why ExxonMobil is involved in the fight to combat the disease. You can check out more information about the Roll Back Malaria campaign here, and see the ad, too.

Today was a proud day for Nothing But Nets. A little more than 48 hours ago First Lady of the United States Laura Bush asked us to join her on the Thai-Burma border for a bed net distribution. A few long plane flights later, I joined Mrs. Bush in Mae Sot on behalf of the UN Foundation and Nothing But Nets on a great mission - we stretched our giving to include the most vulnerable people in the world; refugees and internally displaced peoples.

Mrs. Bush came to Thailand to bring attention to the rising malaria rates in this region. "There is a 40 percent infection rate of the crossovers between the borders," said Dr. Cynthia Maung, Head of the Mae Tao Clinic.

At Nothing But Nets, we talk a lot about malaria awareness and prevention through bed nets. You know that the disease is caused by mosquitoes carrying a parasite, but did you know that malaria is also hugely connected to HIV and AIDS infection rates? More than 4 million people a year die from these diseases combined - this link is an important public health concern worldwide.

The combination of malaria and AIDS is deadly, but especially for pregnant women and children. Babies born to women with both diseases have an almost 74% risk of death. Extreme poverty, limited access to treatment, and poor education are all factors in co-infection of these diseases.

We had another awesome event today here in DC for Nothing But Nets with HOBY students and kids from the Boys and Girls Club. The HOBY (Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership) group was intense, motivational and so energized - and they passed that enthusiasm right on to the kids, which is just what we need to spread the word about malaria!

The event started out with a welcome from Nothing But Nets Director Elizabeth Gore, followed by a couple of pep talks from DC United soccer player Ben Olsen and Washington Mystics basketball player Nakia Sanford. Both of them really got the kids going and explained why malaria is such an important issue and how to get involved through Nothing But Nets.

When the Pew Environment Group’s softball team, The Tree Sluggers, isn’t at work fighting global warming, saving the forests, or protecting marine habitat, they’re busy rallying for the Nothing But Nets campaign out on the National Mall playing fields in DC.   

Wow, what a great start to our next round of Nothing But Nets City Tours! Indianapolis was a blast and we are thrilled with how things turned out, and how YOU turned out!

But first of all, we are so excited about our new partnership with the Jonas Brothers and their foundation, Change for the Children! If you haven't seen the announcement, check it out here. We were awarded a check for $10,000 from the brothers, and then we topped off the partnership launch at their concert that night, spreading the word about Nothing But Nets to their fans. You can donate to help the JoBro and Nothing But Nets here.

Nothing But Nets is in Indianapolis getting ready to start our City Tour and we are so pumped about our events over the next two days! We want everyone to come out and see how you can get involved with Nothing But Nets and spread the word about malaria prevention. Check out what we have going on:

• Malaria Boot Camp with the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever - including a knockout contest with the players! 
• Jonas Brothers concert - we'll be handing out Nothing But Nets wristbands and information about our campaign....

Kindergarten students from Harambee Christian School in Columbus, Ohio, recently raised $240.00 for bed nets! They raised the money by hosting two school-wide sales of cookies, punch, popcorn and freeze pops. The classroom was arranged for students to come in and purchase items during the sales.

This project served two purposes for the class.  First, as a part of their economics curriculum, these sales provided an opportunity to reinforce various economic concepts such as natural and capital resources, producers and consumers, advertising, specialization and giving. The students especially loved making posters and flyers to advertise the sales. The greater purpose the sales served, however, was giving the students an opportunity to raise money for those in greater need.