Des Moines ONE members were in full bloom this past Saturday as they hosted a booth to promote our new agriculture campaign, THRIVE, during opening weekend of the Downtown Farmers Market. The booth was full all morning with people learning about the importance of investing in sustainable agriculture programs as one of the best ways to help lift the world’s poorest people out of extreme poverty.
This weekend, I was invited to participate in a workshop sponsored by Bread for the World in Allentown, Pa. Senior Regional Organizer Larry Hollar spoke to a group of 25 people regarding Bread’s “Expanding the Circle of Protection” campaign, a coalition of Christian denominations and religious organizations who are advocating for the protection of programs vital to hungry and poor people.
RFD Brian Sweeney and Senior Regional Organizer Larry Hollar with Congressman Charlie Dent
A high school student at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill., Mary Kate Vanecko shares her school’s new-found passion for ONE.
We now have a ONE chapter at my high school! We believe the issues that ONE focuses on are extremely important, especially to our generation, since we have the ability to drastically reduce HIV/AIDS and poverty. We took advantage of our school’s April 20 Earth Day Fair to introduce ONE to Loyola. We got started during the week leading up to the fair, posting flyers with the ONE logo, quotes and statistics.
The statistics really hit home. People were shocked to hear that roughly 20 percent of the world’s population lives on less than $1.25 a day. With the student body’s interest peaked, we encouraged people to check out the THRIVE petition and emphasized the importance of agriculture in diminishing the cycle of poverty. We were able to get 140 signatures in just two hours, including our school principal! By stressing ONE’s mantra “we’re not asking for your money, we’re asking for your voice,” we stood out from other clubs at our school and gained the support of students eager to make real change. With our many new members now decked out in ONE wristbands and motivated to get involved, we look forward to doing more and working together as ONE to beat extreme poverty.
Launching ONE’s Thrive campaign last week gave ONE member Alicia Lowe the perfect platform to highlight smart agriculture investments at an event called the Great American Write-In. Organized by Women For: Orange County, this annual event invites the local community to raise awareness and take action together around a number of local, state, national and international issues, particularly those addressing basic human needs and empowerment.
Last week, nearly 150 ONE super-members were in Washington, D.C., for ONE’s 2012 Power Summit, a four-day advocacy extravaganza.
What makes you get out of bed every day in the morning? What makes you put one foot in front of the other during the day? What makes you go to sleep with a smile on your face at night? My friends, what I am explaining here is passion– and passion, determination and inspiration is what I found in all our speakers during Day 2 of ONE’s 2012 Power Summit.
Last week kicked off the first meeting of ONE in Bloomington, Indiana. We met with enthusiastic ONE members from the area to discuss the overall and current objectives of the campaign, how we first heard about ONE, as well as to brainstorm some ideas of what 2012 can hold for ONE Bloomington.
ONE volunteers in Nashville joined partner agency Blood:Water Mission earlier this month for their annual Water:Walk in honor of World Water Day. Tennesseans gathered to walk a mile in the women’s shoes who carry water to their families in Africa every day.
Participants started downtown, carrying plastic jugs and buckets, and walked a mile to the river. They then filled their containers and carried them a mile back in silence remembering the women and children across the world for whom this is a daily task.
Among the volunteers was Jars of Clay lead singer and Blood:Water Mission founder Dan Haseltine, who stopped by the ONE table before the walk to sign a letter to Representative Cooper urging him to protect lifesaving programs in this year’s budget.
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
