Good cause
There are 1,000 people in Africa who will be safer because of CMU students.
Chip Away Malaria, a registered student organization, raised $10,000 for a charity called "Nothing But Nets," which buys mosquito nets for families to help battle malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes.
The nets protect people from mosquitoes at night. And those people who are receiving a $10 net have a 90-percent better chance of avoiding the disease.
CMU students are responsible for that.
The group started out as a project in a sports management class - it was created by students. It's run by students. It's kept alive by students.
Those students should be proud they're able to make a difference in the lives of people halfway around the world.
And CMU should be proud of its ability to create situations and push students to do great things in this community and in the global community.
Chip Away Malaria should be an example to other classes and other students of what is possible at this university.
There's even more potential in CMU students and classes. More projects like Chip Away Malaria are possible - they should be encouraged by professors. CMU should make an effort as a whole to create more projects like this one.
And students can take it upon themselves to help even more. Donors in the Chip Away fundraisers are to be commended, but if more students stepped up and created programs and organizations like this one, even more people would help.
The success of Chip Away Malaria shows exactly what CMU students are capable of, and what can be accomplished at this university by people who are willing to give their time and effort to make a difference.
There are plenty of people who need help.
It's possible for any of us to step up.
Maybe a class can be the catalyst to change.
That's what happened with Chip Away Malaria.
