Students “Hula” To Fight Malaria With Children For Children’s Sweat For Nets™ Program

NEW YORK, NY (02/04/2008)(readMedia)-- On Monday, February 4th, 2008, about 100 students in grades K-12 from Friends Seminary located in Manhattan are taking part in a Hula-Hoop-a-thon for Malaria Awareness. As part of the school’s fourth annual Peace Week, the ninth graders have been raising awareness about this global health issue throughout their community. They have organized the Hula-Hoop-a-thon to raise funds to donate to Children for Children’s Sweat for Nets program, which sends money to Africa for the purchase and distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets.

Malaria is one of the world’s most pressing issues, with a child in Africa dying every 30 seconds from this disease that is both treatable and preventable.

In an effort to build awareness in their school community, the ninth grade classes at Friends Seminary have designed posters that are displayed throughout the hallways, spoken at the weekly school assemblies, and will be selling locally made chocolate bars with awareness-raising wrappers that the students designed themselves.

A recent Sweat for Nets student participant said, “I’m making a difference for people in Africa, Indonesia and other places. I like that I’m helping people.”

Sweat for Nets is a free service-learning awareness and fundraising program offered by Children for Children (CFC). The program engages hundreds of children each year and encourages them to design and implement their own youth-led malaria-related service projects. 100% of the funds raised through Sweat for Nets are used by the CDC Foundation to help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) purchase and distribute insecticide-treated bed nets to malaria-endemic regions in Africa.

To learn more about Sweat for Nets, or to receive a free Sweat for Nets toolkit and soon to be released instructional DVD, visit www.sweatfornets.org or contact: Erik Zimmerman, Children for Children, 212.850.4170, erik@childrenforchildren.org

Children for Children in a non-profit organization that promotes hands-on youth volunteering and giving programs that teach the value of community involvement and civic engagement in children from all backgrounds and of all abilities, beginning at a young age. Sweat for Nets is just one of CFC’s many hands-on service programs, which engage more than 52,000 children each year in volunteering. For more information, visit www.childrenforchildren.org or call 212.850.4170.

Founded in 1786, Friends Seminary is a co-educational K-12 private school with 670 students. For more information, visit www.friendsseminary.org or call 212.979.5030.

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