Mayor McGinn Declares “Nothing But Nets” Week

Seattle, WA |  June 9, 2010

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn declared June 6-12, 2010 “Nothing But Nets™ Week” in the city in support of the UN Foundation’s Nothing But Nets™—a global, grassroots campaign to end malaria in Africa. The campaign and its country-wide “Buzz Tour” are hosting a series of events in Seattle to raise awareness about the global goal to end malaria deaths by 2015. The “Buzz Tour” hit the road as part of the United Against Malaria partnership to leverage the momentum to raise awareness about malaria in the lead up to this year’s World Cup, hosted for the first time in Africa—where 90 percent of malaria deaths occur. 

Today, Nothing But Nets™ presented an award of appreciation to students of The Bush School in Seattle for their extraordinary work to help prevent malaria in Africa—a leading killer of children on the continent. The Bush School students have been fundraising for more than three years and have raised nearly $10,000 to send nets and save lives. The award presentation was followed by a malaria-education workshop for the 50 students.

“Each year students from the Bush School visit our office in Washington, D.C., to hand-deliver the funds they’ve raised to help keep children in Africa safe from malaria,” said Nothing But Nets™ Director Adrianna Logalbo. “They arrive by bus during their class trip, and so now we are thrilled to drive our “Buzz Tour” to The Bush School to thank the students for taking action locally to make a global impact.” 

Photo credit: Nothing But Nets™. For additional photos, or hi-res images, please contact Negin Janati- njanati@unfoundation.org.

BACKGROUND
Nothing But Nets™ is in Seattle as part of its “Buzz Tour,” a country-wide journey in the lead up to the FIFA World Cup, which is being hosted for the first time in Africa—where 90 percent of malaria deaths occur. Nothing But Nets™ is Uniting Against Malaria with partners in more than 20 cities, traveling in a converted school bus, fueled by waste vegetable oil and outfitted with solar panels, to drive people to join the movement to end malaria. 

Seattle Sounders’ Sanna Nyassi is a Nothing But Nets™ champion and is helping the Sounders raise awareness about malaria among fans. A native of Gambia, Nyassi contracted malaria at the age of 16 and is committed to protecting families from the deadly disease. At Thursday’s game, the Sounders will host a Nothing But Nets™ title night at Qwest Field. During half-time Nothing But Nets™ will present Nyassi and the Sounders fans with an award for their support and dedication to sending nets and saving lives. 

Every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies from malaria - which is easily prevented through the use of an insecticide-treated bed net. The nets create a protective barrier against mosquitoes at night, when the vast majority of malaria transmissions occur, and are the most cost-effective method of preventing the spread of the disease. $10 covers the cost to purchase and deliver a net, and educate the recipient on its proper use. 

To date, Nothing But Nets™ has raised more than to $30 million and has distributed over 3 million nets to children, pregnant women, and refugees throughout Africa.  For more information, including photos, video, and Buzz Tour schedule, visit www.NothingButNets.net/buzztour.

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About Nothing But Nets™
Nothing But Nets™ is a global, grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. Inspired by sports columnist Rick Reilly, hundreds of thousands of people have joined the campaign that was created by the United Nations Foundation in 2006.  Founding campaign partners include the National Basketball Association’s NBA Cares, The people of The United Methodist Church, and Sports Illustrated. It only costs $10 to provide an insecticide-treated bed net that can prevent this deadly disease. Visit www.NothingButNets.net to send a net and save a life.

This year, the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets™ has joined United Against Malaria, a partnership of football teams and heroes, celebrities, health and advocacy organizations, governments, corporations, and individuals who have united ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to win the fight against malaria. Our goal is to galvanize partners throughout the world to reach the United Nations target of universal access to mosquito nets and malaria medicine in Africa by the end of 2010, a crucial first step to reaching the international target of reducing deaths to near zero by 2015. www.UnitedAgainstMalaria.org