UMC Reaches 90% Goal Raising $68 M in Fight Against Malaria

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Friday, November 20, 2015

A displaced girl is tested for malaria at an MSF clinic in Tomping camp, where some 17,000 displaced people who fled their homes are being sheltered by the United Nations, in Juba, January 10, 2014. Violence erupted in South Sudan's capital Juba in mid-December and spread to oil-producing regions and beyond, dividing the two-year-old land-locked country along ethnic lines. Some 60,000 civilians are being protected at U.N. Bases.

Zambian villagers display a mosquito net offered by the Roll Back Malaria Zambezi Expedition in Matongo village, about 60 km (37 miles) from Livingstone, April 23, 2008. Zambia will host the World Malaria Day in the presence of Belgium's Princess Astrid, Goodwill Ambassador of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership on April 25. The medical teams of the expedition will travel more than 2,500 km (1,553 miles) in inflatable boats through Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe to deliver mosquito nets and medications to remote areas.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) gives a mosquito net for malaria prevention to a local woman during a tour of the Philippe Senghor Health Center in Dakar, August 1, 2012. Clinton arrived in Senegal on Tuesday, beginning a trip that will take her both to Africa's newest nation South Sudan and on a private visit to the continent's elder statesman, 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.

Zambian healthcare worker Laite Hanzonde performs a malaria test during the Roll Back Malaria Zambezi Expedition in Matongo village, about 60 km (37 miles) from Livingstone, April 23, 2008. Zambia will host the World Malaria Day in the presence of Belgium's Princess Astrid, Goodwill Ambassador of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership on April 25. The medical teams of the expedition will travel more than 2,500 km (1,553 miles) in inflatable boats through Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe to deliver mosquito nets and medications to remote areas.

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The United Methodist Church has raised $68 million to fight malaria, meeting 90 percent of its goal for the year.

In a campaign officially running through 2016, UMC leaders stated earlier this week that the denomination's Imagine No Malaria fundraiser is in its final stretch.

Bishop Thomas Bickerton, chair of the UMC's Global Health Initiative, told The Christian Post that Imagine No Malaria raised the $68 million via " ... numerous means that primarily include grassroots fundraising through local United Methodist congregations."

"In many instances, children have led the fundraising efforts by contributing pennies from their banks, making lemonade stands and forgoing birthday gifts for Imagine No Malaria donations," said Bickerston.

"Other events have ranged from more typical fundraising activities such as pancake breakfasts and 5K runs to unusual endeavors, including motorcycle rides to the Arctic Circle, head shaving challenges and skydiving."

Bickerton also told CP that the funds raised will go to "a multi-pronged strategy to fight malaria that includes prevention, communication, treatment and education."

This will include distributing millions of mosquito nets for beds in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing diagnostic kits, medicine, and improved sanitation.

"Imagine No Malaria provides grants to renovate and equip health clinics on the continent of Africa for improved diagnosis, case management and access to medication," explained Bickerton to CP.

"Additionally, Imagine No Malaria provides training to create a grassroots network of community health workers. Through Imagine No Malaria, the United Methodist Church has emerged as a significant partner in the global fight against malaria."

Launched in 2008 and based in Nashville, Tennessee, Imagine No Malaria is hoping to raise at least $75 million by the end of the year.

"Unlike many other diseases that are awaiting a cure, malaria was eliminated in the U.S. in the 1950s. However, in Sub-Saharan Africa, malaria continues to kill a person every 60 seconds," noted the initiative's website.

"But there is hope! Imagine No Malaria is part of a global partnership and together with our partners, our generation can beat malaria once and for all."

Global partners working alongside Imagine No Malaria include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Alliance for Malaria Prevention, and the United Nations Foundation.

"Imagine No Malaria is an unprecedented effort by the people of The United Methodist Church. This represents the highest amount of money ever raised by the denomination for its outreach and mission program," said Bickerton to CP.

"Imagine No Malaria has been successful because the initiative has engaged people at all levels, from small churches to megachurches, and across all economic levels."