7-year old saves lives, raises $7K for Imagine No Malaria
By Erik Alsgaard
UMConnection Staff
“I saved people from Africa.”
Seven-year old Nicolina Stine is sitting at her dining room table with her mom, Michele, and dad, Kenny. Nicolina is talking about how she has raised more than $2,000 in the last two years to help fight malaria.
“At church, there was this thing, and we raised money at church and I thought about it and did it for my birthday,” she said.
What Nicolina had heard that day, more than two years ago, was a presentation about “Nothing But Nets,” where a $10 donation bought an insecticide-treated bed net that would help stop the spread of malaria.
Later, at home, Nicolina emptied her piggy bank and rummaged through the house, gathering all the loose change she could find. When Michele asked her what she was doing, the then five-year-old said she was doing what they said in church to do: get money to save lives of people living in Africa.
Michele matched the amount Nicolina had found: $70.
Nothing But Nets was launched in 2006 by a partnership that included The United Methodist Church. Today, “Imagine No Malaria” continues the Nothing But Nets campaign, but with additional emphasis on prevention, treatment, education and communication. The denomination is seeking to raise $75 million through Imagine No Malaria to rid Africa of a disease that claims one life every 60 seconds. The Baltimore-Washington Conference goal is to raise $2.1 million as part of that overall commitment.
Active members at Mt. Carmel UMC in Frederick, the Stines were further amazed when Nicolina announced to them that for her sixth birthday, she didn’t want presents; instead, she wanted people to donate money to buy nets.
“I didn’t want presents,” Nicolina said. “So I made my birthday into, like, where people give money to people in Africa and they buy nets.”
Nicolina might not have the distribution information just right, but she is clear on what the nets do: “They cover themselves with them so the mosquitoes don’t get them,” she said, “and they don’t get malaria.”
When Nicolina first told her mom about her idea – at age 5 – she said she wanted “a bug party.”
Michele’s reaction was predictable. “She made the weirdest face,” said Nicolina. “She said, ‘Is everyone going to bring bugs to the party?’ And I said , ‘No, people bring money so I can save kids in Africa.’”
“With her being so little when she did that, I didn’t understand what she meant,” said Michele. “We almost got into a little bit of a heated conversation because she wasn’t exactly getting her point across.”
Once everyone understood the request, Michele sat in her office and cried for about two hours.
And they were tears of joy.
“I was just floored,” Michele said. “I couldn’t wait for my husband to come home.”
“I’m just very proud of her,” said Kenny. “I’m taken aback by the way she’s approached this whole project. I was real surprised by the way all the parents thought it was a great idea, too. Instead of going out and buying something that would end up in a yard sale, it was a simple thing and a great thing to do.”
Kenny and Michele sat down with Nicolina, just to make sure she understood that this was what she really wanted to do.
“I wanted her to understand the magnitude of what she was doing and that there would be no presents,” said Michele.
Nicolina, she said, understood. “She said, ‘Mom, I get it. The kids are gonna bring money and we’re gonna buy nets.’”
So the family sat down and began to plan for the party, which included pony rides, snacks and a moon bounce at their home. They raised about $700 at that first party, with additional contributions coming in in the weeks and months afterwards following an article in the local newspaper about what Nicolina had done.
The following year, for her seventh birthday, the party grew larger. They invited Nicolina’s entire first grade class, the Girl Scout troop, friends from dance class and children from Sunday school. The party moved to the church and they raised more than $1,000.
In addition, the local mall in Frederick set aside all the money thrown in the fountain for Nicolina’s campaign, bringing in another $231.
“We had to collect it and clean it,” said Kenny. “It took us three days to clean all those coins.”
Nicolina is already planning on doing another “bug party” for her eighth birthday next summer.
“Because, I just want to. Bigger. More people, more money.”
How does raising all this money make Nicolina feel?
“Happy, because kids are getting saved.”
For more information on Imagine No Malaria, and how you can make a difference, visit http://www.bwcumc.org/ImagineNoMalaria.
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