Lt. Governor Quinn launches Chicago Elementary School Netraiser Challenge
CHICAGO - Lt. Governor Pat Quinn joined with Principal Mathew Ditto and the United Nations Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign, a grassroots effort to save lives by sending malaria nets to Africa, to launch the Chicago Elementary School Netraiser Challenge at Andrew Jackson School on Friday. The occasion marked the start of a friendly competition in the Chicago-area, involving students from K-5 classrooms who will literally be saving lives.
Every 30 seconds a child in Africa dies from malaria - a death that could have been prevented with a long-lasting, insecticide-treated bed net that can keep an entire family safe from the deadly disease.
This year, Chicagoland students have an opportunity to see which classroom can send the most bed nets to Africa, with the winning classroom receiving Acer® Aspire one netbooks for each student and teacher. The 8.9 inch, low-cost, easy-to-use Acer Aspire one netbook is a mini-laptop, which weighs as little as 2.2 pounds and comes equipped with Microsoft XP Home®, wireless connectivity and a built-in webcam, making it ideal for students.
Through the competition, students will team up with their classmates to raise malaria awareness within their communities and raise funds to send bed nets to children and families in Africa. In addition to a low-cost laptop for each student and teacher, the winning classroom will receive a classroom pizza party and a celebration assembly with the entire school featuring Nothing But Nets spokespersons, including local professional athletes.
Signing up is easy! To get started, teachers should send an e-mail to [email protected] with their name, classroom grade, school name, school address and county. Kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms in Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties are eligible to participate. Friday, December 19 is the final day to submit all netraiser funds.
Inspired by sports columnist Rick Reilly, tens of thousands of people have joined the Nothing But Nets campaign that was created by the United Nations Foundation in 2006. Founding partners include the National Basketball Association's NBA Cares, The People of the United Methodist Church and Sports Illustrated. To date, Nothing But Nets has raised more than $20 million to purchase and distribute bed nets throughout Africa.
For more information on how to participate and to view featured Netraiser classrooms throughout the challenge, visit: Nothing But Nets at NothingButNets.net/ChicagoElementarySchools and Lt. Governor Quinn at StandingUpForIllinois.org/NothingButNets.