Meredith Haddad, a senior student and basketball player at Troy Christian High School has been an active philanthropist over the last couple of years, and she spearheaded “Night of Nets” to raise funds for protective bed nets in Zambia. She heard about the initiative through her sister’s school, Cornerstone University, two years ago and plans to continue her involvement in the program even after graduation.

Cornerstone’s Director of Athletics Chip Huber visited Troy Christian back in 2014. He is not only passionate about sports he helped begin Night of Nets with the help of World Vision and Jubilee Ministries. “When he came to visit Troy Christian, he talked about how Night of Nets was saving lives,” Haddad said. “It was such a great idea.” Haddad learned that malaria is contracted through mosquito bites that often occur during the night. The bed nets prevent this and have protected thousands of Zambians from contracting the deadly disease. According to UNICEF, every 30 seconds a child dies of Malaria. Of all people who die from malaria in Zambia, 50 percent or more are children under 5 years of age. Haddad and others at Troy Christian who heard the statistics were moved to action.

Shortly after Huber’s visit, Troy Christian Superintendent Dr. Gary Wilbur asked Haddad if she would be able to head up Night of Nets at the high school. She took on the mission and employed the help of her basketball teammates to raise funds. The primary Night of Nets event takes place during the winter men’s basketball season but fundraising for the cause happens year round. “Last year we raised enough for 1,000 nets,” Haddad told us. Each net costs $6.00. The response from the community was a significant demonstration of support. T-shirts were sold and teachers were pied in the face as motivation to bring in donations at the high school and elementary school.

Despite her upcoming graduation, this year will not mark the end of Haddad’s participation with Night of Nets. According to Haddad, partnership with Cornerstone University and Chip Huber’s program was cemented by an honor she received during last year’s basketball season. She was asked to join Huber on the court of a Detroit Pistons game as he was being recognized for his work with Night of Nets. Many of the Pistons are involved with “Nothing but Nets,” an NBA version of the same initiative Cornerstone has undertaken. They were promoting the cause that night to get their fans on board helping to save lives. Haddad beamed recounting the experience. “It was incredible,” she said. “Being a part of this has really changed my life.”

Although Haddad is graduating this year, she is hopeful that her younger sister, who is currently a sophomore at Troy Christian might take up the cause to continue Night of Nets in her absence. Haddad will be attending Cornerstone University in the fall and is already planning to play on the soccer team and run track in the coming school year. She said that she would like to visit Zambia with one of her new athletic teams and personally deliver nets to these groups of people she has never met but to whom she already feels so deeply connected.