Support the Millennium Development Goals

Select a parishioner to lead the MDG inspiration Fund Campaign. This person would order and disseminate free MDG Inspiration Fund materials, arrange for speakers to address the congregation about malaria and related matters, organize MDG Inspiration Fund events and collect contributions to mail to Episcopal Relief and Development. To place an order for materials that support the Millennium Development Goals Inspiration Fund, please visit the Episcopal Books and Resources website or call (800) 903-5544. Each Episcopal Relief and Development Diocesan Coordinator has received the same net that is used in the field. Contact them and have them do a presentation.

Dedicate a week twice a year to the MDG inspiration Fund. The Lenten and Christmas seasons are evocative times to dedicate a week (Sunday to Sunday) and share the message of the MDG Inspiration Fund. Through special church activities - sermons and classes - these weeks can raise awareness about malaria, its relationship to poverty and how preventing the disease is related to our Christian faith. Collect contributions for the MDG Inspiration Fund and encourage special gifts during this time.

Create a display using a mosquito net. Mosquito nets can be purchased from a local camping store or online and are a powerful visual aid for educating people about malaria. Hang the net prominently in the church to draw attention to your work on behalf of the MDG Inspiration Fund. Download the image of the mosquito from the resources section and tape one image to represent each net purchased by your parish. Or set up a hammock in the undercroft with the mosquito net over top and then sell nap time during coffee hour.

Have ‘no mosquito Sunday.’ During the summer months, when members of your church will be doing their best to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, ask youth members to bake and sell cookies for $1 each. Selling a dozen cookies will provide one family with a long-lasting insecticide-treated net. Have the Sunday School classes count their mosquito bites and ask their parents to buy one long-lasting insecticide-treated net for each bite.

Ban Bottled Water. Stop spending money on bottled water when we have abundant clean water to drink from our taps. Set aside a dollar for each glass a water you drink in lei of bottled water and give it to those who don't have clean drinking water. You're not just meeting MDGs 4, 5, 6, but also 7 as you ensure environmental stability.

Plan MDG week. Starting on Sunday, acknowledge one MDG each day of the week. Ask members of your church to think about ways that they can contribute to achieving each of the different goals. During the liturgy use the mosquito net as the altar cloth. Take a special collection the following Sunday. Set specific fundraising goals and challenge the congregation to meet them. Set a church goal and encourage church members to meet it. For example, $1,000 would provide 66 nets. Raising $20,000 would provide 1,350 families with lifesaving long-lasting insecticide-treated nets. All gifts make a difference.

Throw a baby shower. The next time a church member who has baby shower, skip the pink or blue onesies and the baby toys give the gift of health to a child in the developing world. Take the money you would have spent and make a donation to the MDG Inspiration Fund and know that babies in need will benefit or give a gift from the Gifts for Life catalog.

Arrange a ‘sleep outside Saturday.’
Church members can learn more about the importance of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets for preventing the transmission of malaria by sleeping outside. If you have a churchyard, please consider dedicating one Saturday night for youth members to sleep outside. Or suggest that the youth group have a “sleeping bag Saturday,” where members sleep in the church basement to imagine what it is like to go without the comforts they are accustomed to. The next day’s sermons and Sunday school activities can touch on the experience of “living” in someone else’s shoes and discussing the hardships of poverty.

Encourage parishioners to give “nets” as alternative gifts to family and friends.
For birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and other special occasions, give the gift of saving a life by contributing to the MDG Inspiration fund the equivalent of one or more life-saving nets.