Fifth-graders at Centerville Elementary School in Urbana are calling the more than $1,500 they raised to fight malaria a ‘‘nothing but net” shot.
After reading a ‘‘Time for Kids” — a Time Magazine publication geared toward children — article on the malaria epidemic in Africa, students Rebecca Hageman’s fifth-grade class decided to take part in the ‘‘Nothing But Nets Campaign,” an international charity that provides treated mosquito nets to areas in Africa affected by malaria.
Startled by the statistic in the article that one person dies every 30 seconds from malaria, Hageman’s class formed a team on Nothing But Nets’ Web site, www.nothingbutnets.net, which they called ‘‘Hageman’s Helpers,” and they set a goal of raising $1,500 for the charity.
An involved community at Centerville pitched in money and time to help the children reach their goal.
‘‘It was kind of neat to see how many people were touched and saddened,” said Elizabeth Twilley, 11.
The children talked about their project to other classes, appeared on the school’s televised morning announcements, set up lemonade stands, and asked their parents to become involved.
Rene Flores, 10, said four to five people can sit in the net, and Shreya Inala, also 10, said each net costs $5 to purchase and $5 ship to Africa. Because the nets are treated with a pesticide, the mosquitoes cannot go on to infect other people.
Doing some more math, the children said their donation could buy more than 150 nets, which could save as many as 750 lives.
Several of the children said they felt obligated to help children in African nations suffering from malaria epidemics because Americans have more money.
J.P. Lytle, 11, said he thought it was important to raise money for the nets because African people did not have as much money, and those in affected areas were depending on outside help to prevent the disease.
‘‘I think it’s important to help because it’s a little unfair that we all have these amazing medicines and vaccines, and they don’t have anything,” said Alberto Donayre, 10.
J.P.’s mother contributed lollipops to the fundraiser, which the children sold at the Star Spangled Celebration, a yearly PTA-sponsored event featuring games and activities for Centerville students.
J.P. said that at the event, Hageman’s Helpers sold 500 lollipops and raised $1,014. The kids sold out of lollipops with an hour to spare at the celebration.
Zachary Maxson, 10, said that based on the figure in the Time article, which says 20,000 children die a day in Africa from malaria, he calculated that more than 7 million children die yearly from the disease. This, he said, was more than enough reason for people to become involved.
Hageman said she was proud of her class, who volunteered their own time and received no extra credit for the project. She said not only did it teach them about the plight of people in developing counties, but also that they had learned communication skills and the value of a dollar.
‘‘It’s a very preventable disease,” said Julie Branson, 11. She said for $5, which is the cost of some foot-long Subway sandwiches, they could buy a net that could save five lives. ‘‘Do you want a Subway sandwich or to save a life?” she said. ‘‘It’s up to you.”
