Uniting Seattle Champions in the Fight against Malaria

On August 14, our partner, JCI USA, rolled into Seattle, Washington on one of the last stops of this year’s BzzzTour. In the Seattle area, the team was able to meet with the offices of Congressman Jim McDermott, Congressman Rick Larsen, Senator Patty Murray, and Senator Maria Cantwell.

With such amazing progress made on this year’s BzzzTour, and with so many incredible partners and supporters in the Seattle area who are helping to lead the fight against malaria, we also organized an event at the Seattle World Trade Center to celebrate the successes and discuss the challenges that lie ahead in defeating this deadly disease.

Our keynote speaker for the evening was David Brandling-Bennett, senior advisor for malaria to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who acknowledged the importance of grassroots efforts to sustain and increase global funding to fight malaria. Also joining us in acknowledging the importance of U.S. Congressional leadership in the fight against malaria were representatives from the offices of Congressman Jim McDermott, Congressman Adam Smith, and Senator Maria Cantwell.

We were also honored to have several local grassroots Nothing But Nets Champions in attendance, who were awarded for their outstanding achievements in sending nets and saving lives:

• Rosemary Wheeler, a 5th grade teacher from the Bush School in Seattle who has inspired her students to take action against malaria for nearly 10 years
• Sophie Knudson, a Washington State Girl Scout who organized the “One Day 5K” in her community to raise funds for bed nets
• Bella Merritt, who has taken action on her campus at American University as a Malaria Fellow through Nothing But Nets and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
• Jessica Hancock of the Seattle Sounders, one of our strongest MLS partner teams in the fight against malaria

Many thanks to all of the other partners and supporters who joined us for an amazing event, including: Seattle and Bellevue Jaycees, United Nations Association, United Methodist Church, Washington Global Health Alliance, PATH, UNICEF USA, Infectious Disease Research Institute, University of Washington, and World Vision!