In honor of the five year anniversary of our Mission to Millions partner, Malaria No More, during the month of December North American Power will donate $1 for each “like” that we receive on Facebook to support their life-saving work – up to $5,000!  Let your friends and family know that this holiday season you could give the gift of growing up to a child in need by simply clicking the “like” button on the North American Power Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/powerforchange.

But, why is this a life-saving gift?

Every 45 seconds a child dies of Malaria.  This seems like a staggering statistic to many Americans considering the disease was eradicated in the United States in 1951.  How is it then that this disease is still on our radar?

Well 91% of all malaria deaths occur in Africa, with almost 2,000 deaths daily from this disease.  Imagine that.  Malaria is entirely preventable and treatable yet it is still affecting the lives of millions of individuals and families – with 85% of these deaths coming from children under the age of five.  This is a health crisis that is moving into the spotlight as organizations like Malaria No More are taking the lead and recognizing the impact that our fight against Malaria can have on the world.

Fighting Malaria is key to the future of Africa, its people, and global development as a whole.  While Malaria has passed on from modern nations who have the resources to fight this disease, the developing world has seen this epidemic put villages at the brink of collapse.  Families are getting smaller, lives are shorter, productivity declines, and the economy struggles to recover.  In fact, Malaria costs Africa nearly $12 billion annually – a statistic, that while staggering, still doesn’t put a face to the millions of men, women, and children that see malaria as an everyday bleak reality.

The good news is that we can have a stake in bringing an end to deaths caused by Malaria.  Malaria No More, an international non-profit and Mission to Millions partner, has taken a comprehensive approach – introducing a number of methods to fight malaria such as early diagnosis, treatment, vaccines, insecticide spraying, and community education.  The most basic approach of which is the distribution of insecticide treated bed nets.  This simple strategy can protect an individual from Malaria for up to five years as they can sleep safely and fully shielded from the infected mosquitoes outside.  Through the distribution of nearly 2.7 million nets, Malaria No More and its supporters have been able to cover millions of individuals to keep them safe and free of malaria.

North American Power has joined forces in Malaria No More’s commitment to end deaths caused by Malaria in Africa by 2015 because we believe that together we can have a significant impact on those in need.  It costs $10 to purchase a mosquito net to protect a child from Malaria – imagine how many nets could be purchased because of our Mission to Millions program, more importantly, imagine how many lives we could save!  We could not be more excited about our partnership and throughout the month of December you can show your support as well by “liking” us on Facebook and generating a donation to the life-saving work of Malaria No More.

Happy Holidays,

North American Power