Manhattan, Kan – A signed proclamation declaring Manhattan as Kansas’ first ONE City will be presented by Mayor Tom Phillips and Kansas State student David Westfall to the Manhattan City Commission at tonight’s meeting.

David Westfall, a Kansas State University Graduate School student studying Sociology, asked Mayor Tom Phillips for his support to present the proclamation. Westfall is the leader of the Kansas State ONE Chapter, one of the most active and effective ONE Chapters in the nation. ONE members, totaling 2.4 million across the United States, work in their local community to raise awareness of global extreme poverty and treatable, preventable disease and to build the political will to address the crises.

“Fighting extreme poverty and global disease around the world starts at home. We must talk about these problems and let our leaders know that our community wants to do more to address them. We want to see our country take real action. We can eradicate malaria, provide treatments for people living with AIDS and transform the way the rest of the world views America,” said Westfall. “ONE is asking our country to take small steps that will have drastic results. Our community is one of more than a hundred that have declared themselves ONE Cities and are committed to making this change happen.”

Mayor Phillips and Westfall are reaching across political divides to ask the community and its leaders to do more to address these issues. Today, Manhattan will ask Lawrence, Kan. to become a ONE City and join Manhattan among the ranks of communities who are dedicated to changing the world. Lawrence is home to Kansas State rival, Kansas University.

“Local government must take responsibility and work with our constituents to raise awareness about what is going on outside of our nation’s borders and search out solutions to these problems,” said Manhattan Mayor Tom Phillips. “There are so many factors that contribute to extreme poverty-lack of clean drinking water and basic medicines and nowhere to go to school, just to name a few. Each of these factors points to a way that our nation can help. Signing this proclamation raises awareness among the members of our community, and that is one more step towards the goal.”

“One small step joined with another means two steps forward. That’s why we are challenging Lawrence to join the fight and become a ONE City. We invite the good members of that community to commit to educating one another on these issues, and ask their local leaders to support legislation that will provide people around the world with an escape out of extreme poverty,” continued Mayor Phillips.

What:	Mayor Tom Phillips and Student David Westfall present the City Commission with a proclamation declaring Manhattan to be Kansas’ first ONE City. Together, they will ask Lawrence, Kan., to do the same.
When::	TODAY at 7:00 p.m.
Where::	Manhattan City Commission Meeting City Commission Room at City Hall 1101 Poyntz Avenue Manhattan, KS 66502
Why::	By becoming a ONE City, Manhattan is using its voice as a community to support the global fight against extreme poverty and treatable, preventable disease.

David Westfall’s remarkable leadership demonstrates the power of an individual to create meaningful, lasting change. Westfall began taking an active role in ONE when he took the reins of the Kansas State ONE Chapter, leading them to earn a top spot in the ONE Campus Challenge. Since then he has been working hard to keep Kansas State among the top ten schools in the Campus Challenge.

Westfall and more than 350 members of the Kansas State ONE Chapter have been unstoppable, asking presidential candidates to address these critical issues, reaching out to local media, putting together informative programs on campus and recruiting other schools to the Challenge. Westfall led the ONE Chapter in a letter writing campaign to Senator Brownback, asking him to support the Global Child Survival Act. This legislation, if passed, would help save the lives of some of the 27,000 children under the age of five who die every day with the use of simple solutions such as immunizations, clean drinking water and antibiotics.

The ONE chapter at Kansas State won two weekly challenges during the ONE Campus Challenge so far, which means that they beat out more than 1,400 other schools to put together the most effective and most creative projects that raise awareness about extreme poverty on campus and throughout the community.

After today, Westfall will continue to lead the Kansas State ONE Chapter as they compete in the final stages of the ONE Campus Challenge. On February 25, the top ten schools of the ONE Campus Challenge will be announced. These schools will receive a modest grant to create programs on their campus that will raise awareness of ONE’s issues.

BACKGROUND 

Through efforts on the ground in local communities across the United States and online at ONE.org, ONE members are reaching across political aisles to ask elected officials and candidates to increase efforts to fight preventable disease and extreme poverty.

Via millions of emails and letters and hundreds of thousands of phone calls to the President and Congress and on various campaign stops around the country, ONE members have asked that America do even more to lead the world in bringing hope and opportunity to the world’s poorest people.

Disease, famine and poverty are rampant problems that take the lives of thousands everyday while depriving millions of a future full of their potential. Solving these problems is a common interest in our community, our state, our nation and our world. Increasing our efforts at home will not only save the lives of millions of people – we will also transform how those people see us. It will increase our national security, protect our economy and build a better, safer world for us all.

The ONE Campaign aims to have a ONE City located in all 50 states by the end of 2008. We are over halfway there, thanks to the efforts of members like David Westfall.