BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP: Pie-throwing raises money for malaria prevention

By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
   BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP — After seeing a documentary on malaria in Africa, Rebecca Jacobsen’s 10th- to 12th-grade epidemiology class decided to do something about it.
   To make their dream a reality, Ms. Jacobsen’s Bordentown Regional High School biology class came up with the idea to charge their fellow students for the opportunity to throw pies in the faces of their favorite faculty members.
   The fundraiser, “Pies for Lives,” took place Jan. 15 and raised about $400 from the student body and $575 schoolwide with a bit more expected this week from students who said they’d bring money in later.
   ”The kids were taken aback,” Ms. Jacobsen said, by the scope of the disease and the ease of preventing it and came up with the idea of raising money for Nothing But Nets, a global organization dedicated to preventing malaria-related deaths.
   Malaria is a disease caused by a blood parasite transmitted by mosquito bites. It affects 500 million people a year, resulting in the deaths of 1 million of them or about one every 30 seconds, according to the organization’s Web site. Malaria is a leading killer of children in Africa.
   Encouragingly, but also frustratingly, the disease is easily preventable. For just $10, NBN can purchase, explain and deliver an insecticide-treated sleeping net that can protect a family of four overnight, when most malarial transmissions occur, for up to four years. Research shows distribution of these nets can reduce the transmission rate in a community by up to 90 percent.
   With her students excited about the chance to make a difference, Ms. Jacobsen contacted her fellow teachers to see how many would be willing to take a pie to the face for the cause, and her students also asked around. Twenty teachers volunteered, and the rest gave money to the cause.
   ”The kids did the whole thing,” Ms. Jacobsen said, including coming up with the idea and implementing it themselves. “It’s really extraordinary.”
   After the event was over, she said the event was a great success.
   ”What can I say?” she asked. “The whole place smelled like spoiled whipped cream at the end of the day, but it was a lot of fun, and we all want do it again.”
   Three of the students who made the fundraiser happen are seniors Olivia Stewart and Melissa Solayao, both 17, and 18-year-old Hillary Jackson.
   The fundraiser “just came together” after the class saw the documentary, Hillary said, her friends nodding their approval.
   ”It really opened our eyes up a lot,” Melissa said. “We learned how (malaria) affects a lot of people.”
   The wealth disparity between the United States and many poor African nations, she said, also spurred the effort.
   Olivia filled pie tins with whipped cream, and a group of about 80 students crowded around as students threw pies at teachers. The faculty members stood behind a student-made setup that allowed them to hide their bodies behind a shield bearing a picture of a mosquito, with a hole at the head.
   With remnants of pie still clinging to his upper body, physical education teacher Ernie Covington said he got involved after one of his football players asked him to. And despite it putting him in a possibly uncomfortable — or at very least sticky — situation, Mr. Covington said he had no problem taking one for the team.
   ”I can take a few pies to save a person’s life,” he said.
   For more information about Nothing But Nets or to donate, visit www.nothingbutnets.net.