In the spring semester of 2015, Dr. Dana Hall’s students in her course Non-profit Marketing Campaign Strategies, focused on the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church’s annual initiative to raise awareness and funds for “Imagine No Malaria,” a ministry of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). The students developed a campaign strategy specifically for the North Georgia Conference that will help in reaching the organization’s objective of raising $750,000 this year.
“This is a really important effort, as each dollar raised goes directly to the mission (The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pays all the administrative costs), and each $10 raised literally saves a life,” said Hall, an assistant professor of business. “$10 buys an insecticide-treated mosquito net, the medications, training and education to prevent/treat malaria. Malaria is a completely preventable disease, one that is particularly deadly for children, pregnant women, and the elderly.”awareness and funds for “Imagine No Malaria,” a ministry of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). The students developed a campaign strategy specifically for the North Georgia Conference that will help in reaching the organization’s objective of raising $750,000 this year.
“Imagine No Malaria” Background
When the United Methodist Church started working on this effort in 2008, a child died every 30 seconds from malaria. Now it’s every 60 seconds. To date, the campaign has trained 11,600 health care workers in Africa who literally go door-to-door to hang nets and educate their neighbors. Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. One in five children in Africa will die from malaria.
Prior to 1951, malaria was a serious health problem in the U.S. and in fact, it led to the creation of the CDC. A comprehensive effort from 1947 to 1951 virtually eradicated malaria in the U.S.
Class Efforts
Hall’s class and D.R.E.A.M.S. sponsored a Half-Time Shoot-out during a spring Reinhardt Men’s basketball game. People from the audience were selected to shoot 3- point shots for an allotted amount of time. Each shot made raised $10, and people also had the opportunity to donate on their own. Through this fundraising effort, the class was able to raise more than $340 in only 5 minutes.
Alexandra Mahan ’15 presented the class’ efforts at the 2015 Annual Conference for the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church in June. She emphasized that “our class did research and created a marketing plan to support cause. We gained real world experience and in the process, helped save 116 lives!”
Members of the class who contributed to the “Imagine No Malaria” class project included spring 2015 graduates Blake Hallman, Michael Coleman, DJ Sellers, Carley Shoemaker and Mahan; and returning students Christian Hill, Abel Ramirez and Calvin Robertson.
For more information on how you can “Imagine No Malaria,” visit www. ImagineNoMalaria.org or contact Hall at 770-720-5756 or DLH@reinhardt.edu
