LAS VEGAS, NV-Nevada’s 18,000 ONE members are wasting no time turning up the energy as they engage candidates and voters alike in the days running up to the Nevada caucuses. As they have been for months now, ONE members are working to build awareness for the candidates’ commitments to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world.

“Our members have laid the groundwork for caucus week, meeting presidential candidates in town halls across the Silver State for the past 6 months.  Candidates know that when they come to Nevada, voters from across the political spectrum are united in the effort to erase extreme poverty from our world,” said Sig Rogich, the Republican co-chair of Nevada ONE Vote ’08.

Recently, Las Vegas City Life stated in a cover story on ONE Nevada, that “it is impossible to attend a political event without noticing ONE’s presence.”  This is due, in part, to tireless volunteers like Adam Bellamy.

Bellamy, a fifth grade teacher in Las Vegas has traveled to Africa and witnessed poverty first hand. He came back a changed man and organized the original ONE Vegas Chapter. Since then, he has spoken at the national AFL-CIO event in Reno about ONE, helped involve the faith community with ONE, and has talked directly with Democratic and Republican candidates about their plans to fight global poverty and preventable disease.

“The statistics are staggering.  More than a billion people live on less than a dollar a day. A child dies every three seconds from entirely preventable diseases like malaria.  It shouldn’t be happening in the 21st century when we have the technology and the resources to put an end to it.  When we open our eyes to the problems around us, we can make a difference. America has the power to save lives and by doing the right thing we will make our own future more secure,” Bellamy said.

“In 2000, our country made a commitment to eradicate extreme poverty, ensure basic education and provide health care access for everyone — all by the year 2015. ONE was created to make sure we keep those commitments.  In this election, that means pressing the candidates to stand up for the world’s poorest people,” explained Billy Vassiliades, the Nevada ONE Vote ’08 Democratic co-chair.

“I have seen ONE bring people together from all walks of life-Republican and Democrat, faith leaders and community activists, young and old.  It’s not about politics; it’s about changing our world,” Vassiliades continued.

The leading Republican and Democratic candidates have made public commitments to combat global poverty and disease.  They are included in ONE’s On the Record Challenge, where visitors can see the candidates answer specific questions about HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty.  The candidates’ written answers to an expanded list of questions is also available.  A comparison tool allows visitors to create side-by-side comparisons for the proposals from as many as three candidates at a time, print those comparisons, or email them to others.  The videos and candidate answers are available at http://www.onevote08.org/ontherecord.

The On the Record Challenge brought together ONE members in Nevada and across the country to deliver more than 57,000 petitions to the candidates urging them not only to come forward with their proposals to fight poverty and disease, but then to also hold them accountable for their plans should they be elected.

ONE Nevada has amassed an impressive advisory board of over 75 prominent citizens including tennis great Andre Agassi, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, Congressman Jon Porter, former Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Pappa, and faith leader, Pastor Robert Fowler.

To volunteer to help ONE at the caucus on January 19^th, email, [email protected].

ONE is a grassroots effort of more than 2.4 million Americans, rallying Americans and pressing our leaders to fight the emergency of extreme poverty and preventable global disease.  For more information, visit ONE.org.

On The Record is a project of ONE Action to educate voters about the presidential candidates’ plans on issues of importance to ONE Action’s members. Only 501(c)(3) activities are funded by The ONE Campaign.

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