Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Press release here. This is awesome. Thanks to loyal reader Kathi for point me to this, and noting that Andrew Magill’s parents are Jim and Beth Magill:
Ideablob.com announced today that Asheville resident Andrew Magill is the April winner of its monthly contest for the best small business idea, as voted on by members of ideablob’s online entrepreneurial community. His idea is called “Stories of AIDS through Music: A Fundraiser Concept Album”.
Andrew Magill is a recent graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Magill plans to collaborate with Malawian musicians to produce an album where each song corresponds to a narrative about HIV, taken from members of HIV-affected families in Malawi. “I plan to go to Malawi to collect about 15 narratives for the album. I plan to distribute it in Malawi and abroad, and I’ve already been in talks with Malawian doctors affiliated with the UNC Malawi Project in Lilongwe and the University of Malawi’s HIV education program,” says Magill. The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa where there is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS.
Magill plans to use most of the $10,000 ideablob prize money to fund the album, proceeds from the sale of which, according to Magill, will be donated to AIDS social service networks in Malawi. Some of the contest money will also be used to tape a documentary of Magill’s journey to Malawi. Magill will be joined by a videographer who in conjunction with UK based NGO Rhythm of Life will assist him in recording the narratives and music. In addition, Magill will create a website with the prize money where he’ll host the documentary and album.
“Malawi has one of the highest national HIV prevalence rates in the world, and I am grateful to know that one of our ideablob winners is making a huge difference in working to stop this epidemic,” said Ami Kassar, President of ideablob Corp. “I hope that Magill’s hard work fills critical gaps in HIV prevention and behavior change intervention not only in Malawi, but around the world.”
To view Magill’s idea and other ideas submitted by past ideablob winners, please visit ideablob’s website.
