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$10 Mosquito Nets Move Young Donors to Save Lives

Malaria solution is hands-on way to help

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 2, 2008 9:11 AM CDT

(Newser) – Mosquito nets, at $10 a pop, are a low-cost, effective way to prevent malaria—and they've become a cause célèbre for young people across the country, who've raised millions in donation drives, the New York Times reports. “You can say $10 saves a life,” says one young fundraiser. “That makes students feel they can help a lot. And every student has $10.”

Bolstered by an odd assortment of groups from the Methodist and Lutheran Churches to Ted Turner's United Nations Foundation to the NBA, VH1, and even American Idol, the campaign has inspired kids as young as 7. One minister in North Carolina recalls telling a crowd of 6,000 young people, “This represents your lunch today at McDonald’s or your pizza tonight from Domino’s. Or you could save a human life.” In moments, he said, "we had $16,000."

U.S. President George W. Bush meets workers producing insecticide mosquito nets, used to combat malaria, during a visit to A to Z textile mills in Arusha, Tanzania, Monday, Feb. 18, 2008.
U.S. President George W. Bush meets workers producing insecticide mosquito nets, used to combat malaria, during a visit to A to Z textile mills in Arusha, Tanzania, Monday, Feb. 18, 2008.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry and his wife Kim Henry pose for a photo with some of the recipients of mosquito nets near a remote village in the Yendi region in northern Ghana.
Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry and his wife Kim Henry pose for a photo with some of the recipients of mosquito nets near a remote village in the Yendi region in northern Ghana.   (AP Photo/Henry Family and HIS Nets)
President Bush speaks about Malaria awareness Friday, April 25, 2008, while touring the Northwest Boys and Girls Club in Hartford, Conn.
President Bush speaks about Malaria awareness Friday, April 25, 2008, while touring the Northwest Boys and Girls Club in Hartford, Conn.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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