On World Malaria Day last spring, the late Ken Bacon wrote movingly about the deadly nexus between refugees and malaria, and about how insecticide treated bed nets can dramatically reduce malaria deaths.
Our friends at Nothing but Nets have been on this for a long time. And as regular readers know, Nothing But Nets was inspired by a column in Sports Illustrated written by Rick Reilly. Well, today, Reilly is back on the case. And this time, he lets us know about a special holiday offer between Nothing But Nets and the National Basketball Association. The bottom line is this: a $10 donation buys a bed net, and as a sweetener, it also buys you two tickets to an NBA game. Here’s Reilly:
A few years ago I wrote a Sports Illustrated column that inspired the United Nations Foundation to create Nothing But Nets to fight malaria. In only three years, hundreds of thousands of supporters like YOU have raised nearly $30 million and sent close to three million nets to children, pregnant women, and refugees in Africa. Wow.
We’re saving lives!
This year Nothing But Nets has teamed up with the UN Refugee Agency to protect more than one million displaced families in Africa from malaria, the number one killer of refugees. Good news – we’re almost there! We need 160,000 nets before December 31, 2009 to reach our goal. To get us to the finish line, I’m going to match your donation – net for net – up to a total of $25,000.
Still not enough? How about a free-throw? To make the deal even sweeter, our partners at NBA Cares will throw in two free tickets to an NBA game for every $10 donation. Send a Net. Save a Life. See a Game.* That’s a full day, right?!
Seriously, refugees need nets, and need your help to get them — give the gift of life this holiday season and help Nothing But Nets drop the New Year’s Eve ball on malaria.
*Tickets are subject to availability
I just donated myself and am now holding in my hands tickets to the Washington Wizards-Atlanta Hawks game on February 6. It was pretty simple–and felt good to do. Spread the word!