Spread the net at your school & join the fight against malaria

The Bite: Every 30 seconds, a child dies of malaria: that’s more than one million children a year.  In fact, malaria is the single biggest killer of African children under the age of five and accounts for one in five childhood deaths in Africa.

The Solution:  An insecticide-treated bed net helps to save lives by reducing malaria transmission by at least 50 per cent. For every $10 raised, Spread the Net, a grassroots initiative in partnership with UNICEF Canada, will purchase a bed net for a family in Liberia or Rwanda.  

Bed Nets & You: We’re calling on high school students across the country to get involved in the Spread the Net Beat the Mosquitoes Challenge and join in the fight against malaria.

Receive all the resources you’ll need to put together a successful fundraising campaign including a fundraising handbook, posters, and a sample untreated bed net.  UNICEF Canada’s education specialists have also put together excellent classroom learning resources for teachers including complete malaria lesson plans intended for the secondary level. 

Student Rewards:

• gaining community service hours needed in many parts of the country to graduate
• strengthening resumés to woo prospective employers
• building leadership skills and learning more about important global issue
• helping to save lives

Profile your high school nationally—top fundraising schools will be announced on Africa Malaria Day – Friday April 25, 2008. Top schools could also get a visit from one of our Spread the Net ambassadors such as the captain of Team Canada’s women’s hockey team Hayley Wickenheiser or celebrity makeup artist and TV personality, Paul Venoit.

Register your school and spearhead the Spread the Net Beat the Mosquitoes Challenge.  Or spread the word at your school and help us spread the net.  Talk to your student council, social justice groups, teachers, and help encourage student participation. 

Registration is easy and can be done by a youth leader or teacher at www.spreadthenet.org.

The first 100 schools to register are eligible for early bird prizes!!!

Just think about it for a minute: a $10 bed net costs the same as a couple of lattes, an album on iTunes or a trip to the movies. And 10 bucks can save lives.

One Net. 10 Bucks. Save Lives.