Raising Money for Ebola: How one man leveraged $200 into $1,400

 Dr. Cherwa leverages for Impact Global Health Alliance through stop the spread in Africa wristband.

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Dr. Jay Cherwa is a Biology Instructor at Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City, Alabama. As a trained virologist, Dr. Cherwa understands the importance of providing accurate information about viruses as well as the potential for untrained media sources to propagate fear about their spread. During the height of the Ebola outbreak, Dr. Cherwa searched online for organizations involved in limiting the spread of Ebola in Africa and came across Impact Global Health Alliance Global.

In 2014, Impact Global Health Alliance Global has been combating the spread of Ebola in 45 communities in Nimba County, Liberia, reaching a total population of more than 12,000 people. Since that time, Impact Global Health Alliance Global has provided over 130 education sessions on Ebola prevention and made preventative measures, such as hand washing stations, available to the public. Impact Global Health Alliance Global has been raising funds to support our partners at Ganta Hospital with protective supplies for health workers, medicines, and outreach.  Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Cherwa and others, Impact Global Health Alliance Global has been able to leverage donations to provide our partners with over $55,000 to help contain the virus.

“I triggered an interest that inspired them to take action for a greater cause and sell the wristbands. I then stepped away to let them realize the difference their efforts could make outside of our college and the impact they could have on another country in need,” says Dr. Cherwa. Thus, the students’ fundraiser has raised over $700 to date and the online fundraising page has gathered roughly the same amount.

A passion for Good

Dr. Cherwa was eager to help raise funds for Impact Global Health Alliance Global after learning that 100% of the funds raised would go directly to combat the spread of Ebola at our project site in Liberia. Dr. Cherwa not only set up his own fundraising page on Impact Global Health Alliance Global’s website, but got his students involved too. He then designed and distributed 1,000 wristbands which read “Stop the Spread in Africa” to sell on campus. The initiative allowed to both raise money for the cause and create awareness amongst his students. Furthermore, Dr. Cherwa also had his students write research papers on Ebola, requiring them to investigate the virus’ history, infection cycle and symptoms.

Changing perceptions through fundraising

Aside from the funds raised, Jay notes a number of other positive effects of the fundraiser. For one, it provided an incredible opportunity to educate and evoke the attention of others about Ebola, even after media coverage decreased. Jay commented that one of the greatest outcomes was to see his students experience, what he believes to be, “the overall purpose of a well-rounded college education: to apply the information learned in the classroom to a real-world situation. In the hope to learn to seek out information from reliable sources and become informed citizens; to learn the value of empathy rather than apathy; and to initiate action to make a difference.”