Nothing But Nets Blog

Wow, what a weekend! Thanks to the incredible support of our friends at MLS W.O.R.K.S., we were able to attend the fabulous events leading up to the astounding 2009 MLS Cup game held in Seattle. The weekend began with the Seattle Sounders welcome party held at the Seattle Aquarium. The venue was perfect—a great representation of the Emerald City where the Sounders FC are always greeted by a packed stadium of enthusiastic fans. My favorite was the scuba-diver dressed in Sounders FC gear playing soccer in the large aquarium, posing for photos, and having a great time dancing to his own music in the water. 

The next evening held the Commissioner's Celebration, a cocktail event hosted by Major League Soccer Commissioner and Nothing But Nets supporter, Don Garber. Don showed a highlight reel of the past season's games and spoke of the amazing support and enthusiasm for soccer and how it continues to grow. To underscore this, he honored U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati, another malaria champion, with the Commissioner's Award for his life-long commitment to the sport of soccer and the pivotal role he has had in its expansion within the U.S.

This Saturday, the U.S. Soccer team takes on Haiti in a battle for glory in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Gold Cup!
 
In addition to an intense game between two of the region's top teams, the game will also highlight soccer's leadership in the global fight to end malaria deaths. The UN Foundation and Nothing But Nets are teaming up with football stars, non-governmental organizations, foundation, governments and corporations to unite in the fight against malaria. 

Click here for more information on the Twitter challenge!

Actor Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) has challenged CNN (@cnnbrk) to see who can reach 1 million Twitter followers. An odd battle to be sure,  but in addition to all the press attention it has received—the great news is that no matter who wins, bed nets will be sent to prevent malaria! If you tweet, join them today and encourage others to send bed nets too!

Both CNN and Kutcher have pledged 10,000 bed nets to prevent malaria if they win. Check out this video of Laura Seydel, Ted Turner's daughter, talking about the Twitter challenge and the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign yesterday on Q100.

You can help today! Donate $10 to send a net and save a life at www.NothingButNets.net 

Students at Cherry Crest Elementary school in Bellevue, Washington, were buzzing with excitement last week as they gathered to learn even more about malaria for a fun-filled afternoon with the Nothing But Nets team and Seattle Sounder Sanna Nyassi. The entire school has been raising money to send bed nets to refugees and have already raised more than $5,000!

After an assembly with the entire school, we broke the students into groups by grades with additional activities rotating for the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.  In one room, students would enact skits about malaria - some pretending to be mosquitoes, some as their victims, and others as the community health workers who teach the proper use of the nets, so they could see all aspects of the bed net deliveries that they made possible. 

Check it out as Stephen Colbert and Rick Reilly literally get under the bed net and talk about how easy it is to send nets and save lives, for just $10!

You too can buy Buzzkill t-shirts like the one Rick gave to Stephen. 

Our very own Rick Reilly will be appearing on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report tonight at 11:30 p.m. CST/10:30 p.m. EST.  No doubt we're all in for laughs even as Rick and Steven discuss the very serious topic of malaria and bring our message to new people!

Did you know you too can join Rick Reilly's Nothing But Nets Netraiser Team that has raised more than $163,000 to send bed nets to Africa? To learn more about how Rick Reilly got involved, read the Sports Illustrated article that started it all.

At the halftime show of last night's MLS game between D.C. United and the Chicago Fire, Makita presented Nothing But Nets with a giant $100,000 check to represent their gift to the Campaign—and I was the lucky one to accept on behalf of the UN Foundation and Nothing But Nets!

Five minutes before half-time I went to our Nothing But Nets booth (we got to pass out t-shirts to donors and talk to fans about malaria) to be escorted down to the field with Ryan McKenna from Makita and D.C. United's Nothing But Nets spokesman, Ben Olsen. There were 10 excited girls each holding a sign that said "Saving 1,000 Lives" which was is a brilliant representation of the more than 10,000 lives saved by this generous donation. All 13 of us were ushered onto the field, cameras rolling, and Ryan from Makita presented us with the giant check that will shortly be put to use covering African children with protective bed nets.  

Hundreds of people around the world are hosting NETS Challenges to raise money and awareness in commemoration of World Malaria Day, today, April 25. Our new NETS Challenge map has the towns marked where our Challenge Hosts are having their parties. If you're not the map yet, email us! And if you see yourself already, update your information with us so everyone can see the fun way you're sending nets and saving lives. 

This month is March Madness, but the games keep going into April with World Malaria Day coming up on April 25th—and we have a way for you to play some sports and send some nets! It's all about the NETS Sports Challenge right now. We want you to get active and bring in friends and family to have some fun and raise money to stop malaria. Here's how: Host your own NETS Challenge by arranging a sports event - a mini basketball tournament, a doubles tennis match or even some backyard soccer.

Check out this blog from another campaign the UN Foundation is doing to involve citizens in the Presidential elections. Here you too can submit your ideas on how he or she can improve American's image in the world, starting On Day One—post your ideas on malaria and more!

John Boonstra writes, "The trick, of course, is convincing would-be presidents that combating malaria in Africa is a pressing goal for their administration. Aid, as Kristof admits, can be "devilishly difficult," but, done right, it can both improve America's standing in the world and save valuable lives.

Tell the candidates that fighting malaria must be an important item on their presidential agenda, and, while you're at it, check out On Day One's sister organization, Nothing But Nets, for a simple and cost-effective way to save even more lives threatened by malaria.

Our top spokesperson and inspiration for the campaign, Rick Reilly appeared on CBS' David Letterman last night to talk about his new book, Hate Mail From Cheerleaders (now available at the Nothing But Nets Store).

When Dave asked him about Nothing But Nets, he became even more animated and explained that while we have nets everywhere you turn in sports, it is the nets we lack in Africa that are needed most. And at only $10 a net, how can you go wrong? Send a net. Save a life. Click here to watch the interview.

And thanks for the shout-out for NothingButNets.net Rick! We got a great traffic spike last night. Click here to join Rick Reilly's netraiser team to help send more bed nets to children in Africa!

We are please to announce our newest Public Service Announcement (PSA) that Diego Gutierrez and Chicago Fire made for Nothing But Nets. Diego recruited fellow players Andy Herron from the Columbus Crew, Alecko Eskandarian from the Toronto FC and Nick Garcia from the Kansas City Wizards to highlight the need for bed nets to soccer fans world-wide. As Diego says, "some nets matter when you score a goal—and some nets matter to save lives."

Many thanks to Diego, Chicago Fire and MLS W.O.R.K.S for this fantastic PSA!

GREAT NEWS!! We've been nominated for a Webby Award (THE best in web related honors) for best site in the Charitable Organizations category, one of only 5 sites out of thousands of entries. I can't tell you how excited I am about this - I literally jumped out of my chair when I got the email this morning and did a little dance which had bystanders looking at me with that "I think she's gone a little off the deep end" look. No, quite the opposite—just thrilled.

We need your help now—please vote for Nothing But Nets to win the People's Voice Award! We are under Society and Charitable Organizations

It is with your help that we've come so far and are being recognized by the Webbies—please keep sending in your inspiring testimonials and photos to stories@nothingbutnets.net.

Thank you!
Shannon Raybold
Internet Director

Exciting news! American Idol will announce tonight (via live broadcast) that they will be sponsoring an historic television event "IDOL GIVES BACK" which is a two night extravaganza to raise money and awareness to help children living in extreme poverty both in the U.S. and in Africa. And they've chosen Nothing But Nets as one of the organizations to highlight!

The 2 night special "Idol Gives Back" airs Tuesday, April 24 (8:00-9:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) and the expanded results show airs Wednesday, April 25 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. In keeping with the nights theme, all songs will be about compassion and hope. You can still vote via text-message for your favorite Idol, but on this night—for every vote cast, corporate partners like Coca-Cola will donate money too.

Kathy Bushkin, the UN Foundation's Executive Vice President, was featured this morning on ABC's "Money Matters" talking about Nothing But Nets and the importance of bed nets.

Check out the video
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2812940

Our partner, NBA Cares, hosted an event at the NBA Store in New York City for Nothing But Nets. Leadership from UNICEF, the M J Gordon Foundation, The United Methodist Church, VH1, United Nations Foundation, Sports Illustrated, and of course our hosts, NBA Cares, came together for the most interesting press conference I've ever been to. Ruth Riley of the WNBA Detroit Shock, Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated, and NBA Legend Sam Perkins, Lynda and Katherine Commale, Kathy Buskin of the UN Foundation, and Ann Veneman of UNICEF were all there to speak to the need of bed nets for Africa.

The big news that day was the announcement of a two for one sale on Nets! The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match all Nothing But Nets contributions dollar for dollar!

Our partner, NBA Cares, has worked with the New Jersey Nets to help them become the first of more than 20 NBA teams that will feature Nothing But Nets during a home game. What a fun way to reach tens of thousands of people all at once and explain how simple it is to prevent one of the world's deadliest diseases!

We were out on the concourse, ready to begin an hour before the Nets-Bulls game. I was surprised at how many people were already there, with time on their hands, who came over to learn about how something as simple as a $10 bed net can save a life. Right before the game, the NJ Nets honored our very own Netraisers Lynda Commale and her 6-year-old daughter Katherine on the court with Loul Deng of the Chicago Bulls as the hometown heroes of the game.

Rick Reilly recently returned from Nigeria where he traveled to see how the first set of 150,000 bed nets from Nothing But Nets are being used. He traveled to both urban and rural areas in the state of Lagos to meet with state officials, tribal chiefs, community health workers and the families that have received the nets. We???ve made a video to share the experience with you. You can also read about the trip in his latest column. Because of you, more than 150,000 children in Nigeria will be able to sleep soundly, without fear of contracting malaria in the night when lurking mosquitoes are most prevalent.