things that i've learned

Friday, March 02, 2007

i've got my money on the 1 seeds

What a clever way to raise money...

(PRLEAP.COM) NEW YORK; March 1, 2007 – Madness Against Malaria (MAM), a unique international online fundraising and awareness-raising initiative modeled after the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament, today entered its second phase as the top 64 teams were entered into a tournament bracket (see: madnessagainstmalaria.com).

More than 100 teams from dozens of countries around the world have been participating in MAM, which launched in September 2006 and was lauded for its creativity by First Lady Laura Bush during the December 2006 White House summit on malaria. During the first phase, $68,000 in funds were raised to purchase more than 14,000 life-saving long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets (LLINs) – a simple yet remarkably effective means of combating a disease, which despite being fully preventable and curable, kills 1-3 million people each year – 70% of whom are children under the age of five.

Beginning today, the 64 teams that have raised the most money will compete "knock-out style" against each other for one week. The team from each pair that raises the most money in the allotted time period will move on to the next round. Just as in the NCAA basketball tournament, MAM will feature "Sweet 16," "Elite 8," and "Final Four" rounds leading up to the championship. On April 16, the winning team will be determined. All participants win the satisfaction of helping to save lives, and the real winners are those in the impoverished villages plagued by malaria that will benefit from these efforts.

Labels: charity, news

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