This week, actor and comedian Jonah Hill is celebrating his birthday by asking his fans and supporters to send life-saving bed nets to refugees in the Horn of Africa through the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets — a global, grassroots campaign to fight malaria in Africa.
As part of a new contest on fundraising site Crowdrise.com, Hill is competing against 11 other celebrities to raise money for their chosen charities. The Mozilla Corporation, hosts of the Firefox web browser, will award $25,000 to the charity to raise the most by January 11, 2012.
Hill commented: “I’m turning 28 and I’m excited about it. I’m excited to ask people to be extra nice to me and celebrate with friends. I’m really excited to peer pressure all my friends into buying me a gift. I want everyone to dig deep into their pockets and cough up $10. $10 sends a bed net to kids in Africa. I hate mosquitoes. I hate malaria more. I love birthdays and I love anyone who donates $10 for my birthday. If you donate $30 I will love you three times as much.”
Every 60 seconds, a child in Africa dies from malaria, a disease spread by a single mosquito bite. Since 2006, the Nothing But Nets campaign has been working with celebrities, corporate partners, and hundreds of thousands of grassroots supporters to raise awareness and funding to save lives from malaria.
“We’re truly grateful to Jonah Hill for choosing to champion Nothing But Nets in this contest on Crowdrise,” said Chris Helfrich, Director of Nothing But Nets. “Malaria is a leading cause of death among refugees and hundreds of thousands of families in the Horn of Africa need our help immediately. With Jonah’s help, this contest is raising money and awareness to help these families as quickly as possible.”
Supporters who donate to Nothing But Nets during this contest can win an autographed “Buzzkill” t-shirt—the Campaign’s staple—as well as an opportunity to have Jonah Hill record the outgoing message on their voicemail. “Crowdrise is about giving back, raising tons of money for life-saving charities like Nothing But Nets, and having the most fun in the world while doing it,” added film producer and Crowdrise founder Shauna Robertson.
Anyone can join the fight against malaria with a $10 donation. Nothing But Nets uses 100 percent of each donation to purchase a net, deliver it to a family, and educate communities on its importance and proper use.
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