Charitable Gift Giving

High-end fashion designer Alexandra Taylor has released an impressive collection of scarves and ties that help bring awareness and much-needed funding to an important cause: ending the scourge of malaria in Africa.

Here in the United States, we often forgot how blessed we are. We have scientists working on mosquito eradication programs in our cities. We have the top medical care. When an “epidemic” like the West Nile Virus hits, panic ensues on every news broadcast on all the 24-hour news stations and nightly news broadcasts. And yet despite all that, your chances of actually contracting the virus is 1 in 452,488.

It’s quite a different story in Africa. Every 45 seconds, a child dies from a mosquito bite. Every 45 seconds. The disease that’s carried is malaria. It’s a terrible disease characterized by high fevers, shaking chills, flu-like symptoms, and anemia. These are real children, with real friends and real mothers and fathers who love them. And yet a tiny mosquito can wreak such havoc on families.

The most cost-effective way of preventing malaria is an incredible simple one. Just $10 will pay for a net to be placed over the bed of sleeping children. The net is treated with a long-lasting insecticide which is safe for the child but which repels the mosquitoes, which feed at night, from biting them while they sleep.

The scarves themselves are what you’d expect from a high end fashion designer. They’re made of a fine silk mesh and are extremely lightweight and stylish yet still functional. They’re 100% silk, and 100% made in the USA. Here are two of the designs.

The designs are all inspired by African colors and designs. This design in particular is a work of art that’s sheer and see-through with a design that evokes the life-saving mosquito nets themselves.

With the purchase of every scarf, Alexandra Taylor will donate $10 to Nothing But Nets to fund the creation and delivery of mosquito nets.