Youth Help Minnetonka Church Raise $41K to Combat Malaria

When Morgan Frye and Nick Lunde were younger, malaria wasn’t exactly on their radar. They had some idea it was bad and knew it was spread by mosquitoes but otherwise didn’t think much about it.

“I guess I never realized it was that bad and that many kids die from it,” Frye said.

That’s not the case now, though. Over the past few years, the youth coordinated Minnetonka United Methodist Church’s anti-malaria efforts—which raised nearly $41,000, the second highest amount of money for the Imagine No Malaria initiative among Minnesota’s 360 United Methodist Churches.

(So far, Minnesota United Methodists have given a total of $2.05 million for Imagine No Malaria, exceeding the state’s $1.8 million pledge goal with nearly a year and a half left to go, according to the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.)

Frye, a 2013 Chanhassen High School graduate, first got interested in malaria in sixth or seventh grade when her family was involved an effort called “Nothing But Nets.”

As she got older, she started looking for a way to get more involved in her church. Then in 2010, the global United Methodist Church launched Imagine No Malaria with the goal of raising $75 million by 2015 to eliminate malaria deaths in Africa. Frye thought it was a perfect initiative for a teen to get involved in since children are the age group hardest hit by malaria.

“It was like kids helping kids,” she said.

Frye then introduced the initiative to Lunde, a Minnetonka High School graduate who’s now entering his second year at North Dakota State University.

“I thought it was a great cause, and I just love to give to my church,” Lunde said. “I kind of gave her a helping hand, and we just started doing it together.”

Neither had any idea how big their project would become. Minnetonka United Methodist Church, which has 500 members, initially set a goal of raising $13,000. But the efforts of Frye and Lunde helped the church quickly surpass that. The church set a new goal of $20,000 and then $39,000 for its 39th anniversary. As of the end of June, it’s raised $40,609.

“I definitely didn’t think it would be this big. $40,000 is a lot of money,” Lunde said.

The youth did bake sales, car washes, pancake breakfasts and two intergenerational dances for church members ranging in age from 2 to 80. They also made shirts with phrases like “Skeeter Beater” and “Buzz Kill” that referenced how some of the money would be used: to purchase insecticide-treated bed nets that would protect against malaria.

Two silent auctions were among their most successful fundraisers. Initially, people thought they didn’t have anything to donate to the auction. So the teens asked them what jobs or hobbies they had. One firefighter offered a tour of the firehouse. Lunde offered yard work. Others donated homemade bread for six months, an hour of genealogy, a lefse class and a sailboat ride on Lake Minnetonka.

Frye said the auction had the added benefit of bringing people in the church together. Seniors who bid on items donated by youth got to know young church members they normally wouldn’t have talked to. In another example, the people who bought the lefse class became good friends with the woman who donated the class.

“Without the congregation that we have being very generous with this, we wouldn’t have been able to make that goal,” Frye said. 

The project impacted Frye’s and Lund’s lives as well. Frye is headed to Iowa State University in the fall to study mechanical engineering. She wants to make medical devices that are less expensive so that everyone can afford. She’s also already visited with the pastor of a United Methodist Church there about continuing her Imagine No Malaria fundraising. 

Lunde, who’s studying architecture, has continued helping others during his time at NDSU.

"I’m going to be volunteering throughout my entire life,” he said.

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Would you like to help? Click here to learn more about the Imagine No Malaria campaign or click here to donate online.