Canadian TV personality Rick Mercer was in Prince George on Monday to pay tribute to the students of UNBC for their efforts in the Spread the Net Student Challenge.
UNBC students raised $18,710 for the Spread the Net Student Challenge. The money will purchase pesticide-treated bed nets which will be distributed in Africa to reduce the spread of malaria by infection-carrying mosquitos.
"This country has some huge universities... and this one raised more money and spread more nets, than any other," Mercer said.
"Ten dollars buys a net and saves a life. Malaria is the number one killer of children in Africa. What the students did here is tremendous."
Mercer attended a rally at UNBC and planned to play one-on-one basketball with UNBC Timberwolves star Inderbir Gil with footage appearing on The Rick Mercer Report on March 29.
The head-to-head match was momentarily sidelined to allow a Timberwolves team wide free throw contest where each basket added to the Spread the Net funds raised.
"The fact that a school like this was able to beat out much larger universities is incredible," Mercer said. "I've travelled all across this country... and I've found the further north you go in this country, the more generous Canadians are."
At the rally Mercer had students, faculty and community members dancing, cheering, singing and doing the wave to the tune of Not Ready to Go by The Trews.
The celebration culminated outside with camera crews filming the crowd from a helicopter.
"The value of this is what we're feeling here. It's about feeling pride in our university," UNBC president George Iwama said. "Sure, we'll get some national coverage. And yes, we'd like people across Canada to know about UNBC. [But] it's about what all of us are feeling."
Tourism Prince George CEO Aidan Kelly said the coverage will showcase UNBC and Prince George across the country in a positive light.
"This is obviously hugely beneficial. When you're talking about personalities in Canada, they don't get much bigger than Rick Mercer," Kelly said. "It's really good news. Obviously all the students were the ones who made this happen."
The Spread the Net Student Challenge raised a total of $102,641.93 nationwide between September and the end of February. A total of 19 college and universities - including UBC, Simon Fraser University, the University of Alberta and University of Ottawa - and 40 high schools took part in the effort.
UNBC Spread the Net campaign coordinator Meghan Kennedy said the city embraced the fundraising effort.
"We really had the university and community rally around us. We are a small community, and whenever there is an event like this we really support it," Kennedy said. "It's for a great cause. It means so much."
The mosquito that transmits the malaria parasite infects its victims most often overnight, which makes the use of bed nets essential. The victims of this disease are frequently children, especially those under the age of five.
For more information, go online to www.spreadthenet.org.
