AU aims to prevent malaria

When I woke up April 25th, 2008, I did three things:  I stretched, yawned and thought to myself, it’s World Malaria Day!  As an intern for the Nothing But Nets campaign, World Malaria Day is a big deal to me.  I was excited to head over to American University, where my colleague Kate Kovarovic, AU Professor Gemma Puglisi and a senior PR Portfolio class had developed an amazing project to raise awareness for Nothing But Nets.

As one of many parts of the project, students from the class held an all-afternoon Nothing But Nets World Malaria Day campus event.  The event included sports activities and a table on campus to raise awareness about malaria prevention.  The students found sponsors for the event such as: Modell’s, who provided them with free sporting equipment for the recreational activities; Vitamin Water, which kept everyone refreshed and hydrated; and radio station 99.5 who sent out the Hummer and provided music for the festivities.

The event was full of excitement and the Nothing But Nets information table was always crowded with people inquiring about the Campaign.  The students were able to answer every question about malaria, which was very impressive!  Volleyball, badminton and frisbee games were being played in the quad.  The students also hosted a raffle and t-shirt give-aways.

Earlier in the week, leading up to AU’s World Malaria Day event, the students had also hosted a bar night, movie night and a Penny Wars competition within the dorms.  Together, the class accumulated well over $500 for the Campaign and raised an immense amount of awareness about malaria prevention.  Way to go AU!