Ever heard “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?” We interpreted the old saying to mean that all blood-sucking creatures that fly and kill originated from the same vein, and twisted that into a contest for Twilight tickets.

Earlier this week, we hosted a contest on Twitter to see who could come up with the most creative tweet connecting vampires and mosquitoes. The winner got two tickets to “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” NYC press screening, which they attended last night. We got some great entries and posted the folly below for your entertainment:

• The vampire’s fangs, the mosquito’s bite, both will transform you by the end of the night.
• Blood is what vamps & mosquitos crave, w.o both lives would be saved, both dont like to come out in the day, its humans they pray!
• Bed nets may save you from deadly mosquitoes, but don’t try to save me from vampires’ libidoes!
• Picture all of the Twilight fans together, then realize that is only a fraction of the deaths caused by Malaria. Impact the Bite!
• A Vampire’s bite cuts like a knife but the mosquito’s bite causes an end to life. Find a cure before you become obscure.
• While the vampire transmits the venom of everlasting life; the anopheles mosquito causes death and a world of strife.
• It’s time to learn about the scary things that come out at night. no, not vampires. malarial mosquitos. time to get aware.

The winning tweet? Both of them are deadly, both attack at night. While Garlic may stop vampires, only bednets stop a mosquito’s bite.

Hey there, all you “New Moon” fans!

Malaria No More is a beneficiary of a special charity screening of “New Moon” on Thursday, November 19th in New York City. Find details about tickets here.

ALSO, Malaria No More has scored four tickets to the advance New York press screening of “New Moon”—the latest installment in the blockbuster Twilight series—for Wednesday, November 18th.

See the new movie two days before it hits theaters and show YOU are the biggest Twilight fan around. Join New York’s movie critics and cinema writers at the exclusive press-only preview.

We’re offering two tickets each to one lucky winner on Twitter and one on Facebook–here are the details:

On Twitter: In 140 characters or less, tell us how vampires are like malarial mosquitoes. The winning tweet must be creative—and the best Tweet will win you two free tickets. Be sure to include #MNMBlood so we can find your tweet.

On Facebook: Become “Top Recruiter” for the Malaria No More Twilight Causes page on Facebook and win two tickets! Get your friends to sign up and support the cause—and maybe they’ll get to be your lucky guest!

Both contests are from now until 3pm ET on Wednesday, November 18th. We’ll Tweet and Facebook post the winners and have you get in touch to get your tix.

(Note: contest winners receive tickets only; transportation and other arrangements are not provided.)

As Malaria No More’s team of 25 runners prepares for Sunday’s New York City marathon, Alistair Fernie reflects on his fundraising efforts in last year’s race:

A lot of people thought I was insane to run the New York City marathon in 2008 two and a half weeks after my wife had given birth to twins. But as an experienced charity fund-raiser, I knew that nothing would help more with getting sponsorship for Malaria No More (except perhaps running in a giant mosquito costume). Most people think marathon runners are mad. Most people think people who have young twins deserve enormous sympathy. And charity sponsorship is all about milking that “rather you than me” feeling to raise funds for a good cause – “if this guy’s prepared to go through such agony, I should give some cash!”

I decided to raise money for Malaria No More because I had come across them in my work at the UK Mission to the United Nations in New York, and been impressed by the clarity of their mission. I was also about to move to Nairobi as head of the UK government’s Department for International Development office there, running the British aid programmes in Kenya and Somalia…

Read more about Alistair’s experience in Africa and his reflections on running the marathon last year for Malaria No More on the Malaria No More UK website.

The 2009 team is getting ready to run the marathon on Sunday! Go team!

We’ve recently been nominated for a ThinkSocial Award for our efforts around the Twitter Challenge with Ashton (@aplusk) leading up to World Malaria Day – remember that?!

Public voting opened yesterday and we’re quickly climbing the ranks to victory – and we need your help to ensure we get there! To show your support, visit our page on ThinkSocial and cast your vote. You can sign in through your email, Twitter handle, Facebook and MySpace accounts.

Share the buzz!

Tonight, some of the MNM staff will attend a presentation by Bill and Melinda Gates, “LIVING PROOF: Why we are Impatient Optimist.” The presentation is in concert with the official rollout of the Gates Foundation’s new Living Proof Project that highlights success stories and progress in global health. See their progress on malaria here.

Virtually attend the event by watching the Webcast on our blog or follow MNM staff on Twitter to watch what they have to say about the event.

MNM's Scott Case and Driver David Brabham Show off the Car and the Nets!

This weekend, the boys over at Patron Highcroft Racing took the American Le Mans Series Championship! Congrats to drivers David Brabham and Scott Sharp, owner Duncan Dayton and COO Bryan MacDonald and the entire Highcroft team for their well-deserved victory!

And thanks to the Miles To End Malaria program, Highcroft’s win was a win against malaria as well. Right after the race, as the champagne started flowing, the team presented Malaria No More with a check for $63,133.13—enough to protect more than 1200 kids from malaria with life-saving mosquito nets.

The team worked all season to kick the malaria fight into high-gear, filming a PSA, participating in a charity auction and handing out with Melinda Doolittle to raise awareness.

Many thanks to the team for helping highlight the fight against malaria throughout the season and using their speed to accelerate the race to end malaria deaths.

Go Champs!

American Idol announced today that it will host the third-ever “Idol Gives Back” charity special on April 21, 2010 — and Malaria No More has been chosen as a beneficiary!!!

“Idol Gives Back” has raised millions of dollars to help fight malaria and shown millions of Idol fans across the country that every individual can be a hero in the fight against malaria.

Thanks to Idol and the generous sponsorship of ExxonMobil, we have distributed mosquito nets in Uganda, Zambia, Angola, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and strengthened our programs in Africa to save lives.

We have traveled to Africa with Idol alums Jordin Sparks and Melinda Doolittle and worked with Elliott Yamin and Brooke White to help raise awareness.

We’re looking forward to another great “Idol Gives Back” in 2010!

Melinda & Brabs

This weekend, I had the huge pleasure of traveling to Road Atlanta with American Idol alum—and Malaria No More supporter extraordinaire—Melinda Doolittle. Melinda was on hand to cheer the Patron Highcroft Race team and support their Miles To End Malaria program. During Saturday’s race, the team crossed the $50,000 fundraising mark and are still accepting donations at MilesToEndMalaria.org as they get ready for the last race of the season on October 10th in California.

The weekend was packed-full with drama. First, Highcroft suffered a crash during a practice run on Thursday. Luckily, no one was hurt and the team rebuilt the car, from the ground up, in 24 hours. The team effort was astounding!

Melinda joined us on Saturday morning to sing the national anthem (beautifully) and wave the green flag to signal the start of the race. We then slipped into fire suits and joined the team in the pit lane—an amazing experience.

To cap it off, Patron Highcroft Racing earned enough championship points to stay at the top of the leader board heading into the last race of the ALMS season.

Vote for your favorite American Le Mans Series star for the annual “From the Fans” award! There are five people up for consideration for “who made the biggest impact this year?” award and one of them is Patron Highcroft Racing’s own Duncan Dayton!

Duncan is not only the owner of the first-place team, he is also one of the driving forces (pun absolutely intended) behind the Miles To End Malaria campaign. The program has raised nearly $50,000 to fight malaria in Africa, saving lives with every lap around the track!

Duncan is making impact both on and off the grid—if there were a “From the Humanitarians” award, he’d be a shoo-in! Help us give Duncan the recognition he deserves and vote today. You can also vote for favorite driver—both Scott Sharp and David Brabham have been nominated. We can’t choose between these two great guys…they’re both favorites of Malaria No More’s!

Hey everyone! Listen in to the PalTalk Malaria Special and learn about malaria with guests including Lance Laifer, Richard Tren, Rob Mather, Melinda Doolittle, Scott Case and Mary Galinsky.

Listen into PalTalk’s malaria special!