Hundreds of thousands of ONE supporters have taken action and reached out to their leaders, asking
them to do more to fight global AIDS and extreme poverty. They’ve emailed, made
phone calls, sent hand-written letters and arranged personal meetings. When I
first got involved in ONE, I questioned the impact that I – as a single person
- could have on my leaders. Could simply writing a letter make a difference?
Would my busy Member of Congress even get my letter, let alone read it? As it
turns out, a hand-written letter goes a long way.

Congressman
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), a strong advocate in Washington for the fight against poverty,
recently received a hefty stack of letters from ONE supporters thanking him for
his efforts to help make poverty history and asking him to continue his
important work. Check out the pictures I just received of him reading the
letters.

Congressman
Blumenauer has helped the fight against AIDS and poverty, working across the
aisle with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to author the Senator Paul
Simon Water for the Poor Act, which makes providing access to safe drinking
water and sanitation a major objective of U.S. International assistance.

Our
leaders in Washington
are elected to represent us and the things that matter most to the Americans
who put them in office. Writing a letter, sending an email, arranging a
personal meeting and making a phone call are all extensions of our voice, and
we can use our voices to help end extreme poverty and global AIDS. Like
Congressman Blumenauer, other leaders in Washington
are receiving ONE’s letters and feeling empowered to take action. I feel
confident that my letters are being read and impacting my Representatives, so I
say let’s keep writing, calling, emailing, meeting and empowering our leaders
to help make poverty history.