NBA MVP Stephen Curry has made a habit of doing the “impossible” this year. He made 402 regular-season three-pointers, smashing his own record (set last season) by 116 shots. The Warriors went on to break the Bulls’ “unbreakable” record with 73 regular-season wins.
These are records people thought would never fall. And now, Curry is gunning for another “impossible” record — ending one of the world’s oldest, deadliest diseases.
Once again, it’s going to take an exceptional team. In his final State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called his shot — saying that we can be the generation to end malaria. And he’s backed that up by urging Congress to increase U.S. funding for malaria by $200 million this year.
With a shout out to @Potus, Curry just launched a new campaign called #CallYourShot — challenging all of us to be a part of the team to end malaria. I’m proud that Malaria No More is working alongside USAID and longtime-Curry partner Nothing But Nets to support the campaign.
What can you do to help? It’s easy. Just call your shot.
We’re asking everyone who wants to play a role in ending malaria to film themselves calling — and making — their best, most creative, most outrageous shot. Then challenge your friends, family and co-workers to do the same and post the video online.
The final step — and the most critical — is sending lifesaving bed nets to families in need so they can protect themselves from this deadly disease. So donate at www.CallYourShot.org.
Today is World Malaria Day, a time when people across the globe turn their attention to how we can fight and ultimately beat this terrible scourge. But this year, the situation is truly unique. For the first time in history, we can actually say with a straight face that eliminating malaria from the planet is within our reach.
By making your best shot and helping us save lives by donating a bed net, you’ll bring us one step closer to our goal.
Our bench is deep. We’ve got a vast network of partners in every corner of the world — organizations like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, and the World Health Organization; leaders in Asia, Africa and the Americas; nonprofits, philanthropies and corporations; and Congressional champions from both sides of the aisle. These partners have all contributed to our incredible successes over the last 15 years: namely, a greater than 60 percent reduction in malaria deaths worldwide.
More than 6.2 million lives have been saved, but we’re not done yet. With a child dying from malaria every two minutes, we can’t afford to sit this one out.
That’s why we need your help today. By calling your shot and donating a bed net, you’ll save a life. And if all of us do it together, millions of lives will be saved.
Right now in America, in the midst of the NBA playoffs, the word “net” calls to mind one thing: basketball. It’s about competition, the thrill of seeing players like Steph Curry splashing the net to win games.
But in sub-Saharan Africa, “net” means a life-saving shield from mosquitoes carrying a dangerous disease that has already stolen the lives of millions, mostly children under the age of 5.
When I lived in Senegal with my pregnant wife a few years ago, we slept under a bed net every night. I remember being acutely aware that it was that net that was keeping me, my wife and my unborn child safe from malaria.
Now we’re living in Seattle, free from the worry that a single mosquito bite could take a precious life at any time. That’s a comfort that every parent on this planet deserves to have. And that’s why I’m asking you today to “call your shot” so we can rid the world of malaria once and for all.
