Six Degrees of Tilson Rockets to First Place in Madness Against Malaria Fun(draising) Tournament.

Six Degrees of Tilson Rockets to First Place in Madness Against Malaria Fun(draising) Tournament.

The organizers of the Madness Against Malaria Charity Tournament (www.madnessagainstmalaria.com) congratulate Six Degrees of Tilson for leading the tournament at the end of week seven.

Six Degrees of Tilson’s fundraising page (www.MadnessAgainstMalaria.com/Tilson)

was written by Dana Tilson, who runs an anti-malaria, treated mosquito net program in Kenya for Population Services International (www.worldswimformalaria.com/en/distributor/psi.aspx). Dana writes:

We are the lean mean Tilson fundraising MACHINE! Save a child from malaria! Buy a long -lasting insecticide treated net today and I will personally guarantee that your donation is used to buy a net that will be given directly to a child in a malaria-prone country. The company I work for (PSI) is working in malaria control in over 20 countries and we are collaborating with Madness Against Malaria to help them distribute the donated nets directly to needy recipients. $5 bucks — that's all folks to save a child’s life.

Joining Dana in Six Degrees of Tilson are her husband, parents, sister-in-law and brother, Whitney Tilson, a hedge fund manager in New York. Whitney adds, "My parents were inspired by John F. Kennedy's calls to 'ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country' and 'of those to whom much has been given, much is expected', so they joined the first group of Peace Corps volunteers in the early 1960s — and were the first couple to meet and marry in the Peace Corps. Since then, they've spent many years working on international development projects in Tanzania and Nicaragua (where I spent half my childhood) and, over the past 11 years, Ethiopia and now Kenya, where they plan to retire. My sister followed in their footsteps and has done famine relief and public health work in Sudan, Mozambique, Guatemala, Zambia and now Kenya. My wife and I admire what they do and are glad to do our small part as well."

Lance Laifer, co-founder of Madness Against Malaria said, "The Tilsons are clearly not your ordinary American family. They are one of a handful of beacons that are leading the world in the fight against malaria. On behalf of all the participants in the Madness Against Malaria Tournament and on behalf of Hedge Funds vs. Malaria, I thank all the members of and contributors to Six Degrees of Tilson for leading the way in helping us all fight to save lives.

About Madness Against Malaria

Madness Against Malaria is a fun, international online competition to identify the team that is best at raising funds to buy long-lasting insecticidal (mosquito) nets (LLINs) to help in the fight against malaria. The aim is to involve people all over the world. A team is any group willing to band together to raise funds. It could be a school, a group of friends, religious group, science class, volunteer group, company, work colleagues, sports club, family. Each team will try to get others to donate money to the cause at their team page. The aim will be to win the Malaria Cup by raising enough money to be the last team standing. 100% of the money raised will buy long lasting insecticidal mosquito nets. Madness Against Malaria is an initiative of the World Swim For Malaria Foundation (WSMF), a charity registered in the UK, US, Australia and a number of other countries.

WSMF launched and ran World Swim For Malaria (WSM) on 3rd Dec 2005 in which more than 250,000 people swam and fund raised. 100% of the US$1.3m raised purchased 270,000 long lasting insecticidal nets

(LLINs) which are now being distributed to protect 540,000 (mainly) children from biting insects when they sleep at night.

The "regular season" for the Madness Against Malaria Tournament will last from September 2006 until February 2007. Teams set up a sponsorship page online and raise money. Teams can start raising money whenever they like during this period. The top 64 teams by funds raised at the end of February go through to a week-to-week single elimination tournament over six weeks until one team is crowned as the champion. Throughout all phases of the tournament, 100% of funds raised will be used to buy long-lasting insecticidal nets and save lives.

March 1 - 11 - The Tournament begins. The top 64 teams are paired off and 'compete' knock-out style against each other. By March 12, 32 teams remain.

March 12 - 18 - The 32 teams compete against each other and 16 teams remain

March 19 - 25 - Sweet Sixteen single elimination round.

March 26 - April 1 - Elite Eight single elimination round.

April 2 - 8 - Final Four single elimination round.

April 9-15 - Championship Week - single elimination round, winner is announced

There might be some interesting pairings during the Tournament's single elimination phase. A large multi-national corporation might play against a school of 700 children in Saudi Arabia; a basketball team in Milwaukee against a Rotary club in Australia; a few people in the office of a multinational in Nairobi might be paired against a group of malaria researchers in Switzerland. Teams can be any number of people, from anywhere.

Strategy, timing and tactics will be important. Teams will need to be strategic in their fundraising because it is not a cumulative contest.

Money raised does not carry over from the regular season to the elimination round and money raised in each week of the elimination round does not carry over to the next week. To win, a team will need to finish in the top 64 teams at the end of February, but then that team is paired against another team in the first round of the knock out phase and both start from $0. The team in each pairing raising the most money over the next week, progresses. Each team's total is then reset to $0 (again). For each of the other final elimination rounds the totals are, likewise, set back to zero.

Teams will need to be smart. If a team finishes at top of the pile at the end of February but is 'beaten' in the first knock out round, that team is out.

There is no limit to the number of people you can co-opt into your team at any time. Particularly during March, that may be important…

Will it be a school, a company, a foundation, or a ten year old child that manages to rally everyone in the world around her? Your guess is as good as ours.

To register your team and get started click here www.madnessagainstmalaria.com

Contact: Lance Laifer 203-899-0657

email - vs.malaria@gmail.com