Archive for May, 2007
The first donation is in!!
Facebook just launched an exciting new feature called Causes. Users can create a cause, and these causes can support a non-profit of their choice. Through this new feature, Jesse Knutson, a ONE supporter from North Dakota, just donated $50 to ONE, which is sure to be the first of much more to come.
You can join the ONE Campaign cause, or you can start your own cause to support ONE!
Check it out.
In an address before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday, John Edwards identified global poverty as critical to American national security. In the speech, Edwards proposed an increase of $5 billion in annual foreign assistance and the creation of a cabinet level post to lead an effort which would include the means to “educate every child in the world.”
An excerpt from the speech:
“Any new strategy must include new preventive measures to win the long-term struggle and fuel hope and opportunity. This includes strong and creative diplomacy, and also new efforts to lead the fight against global poverty. I’ve proposed a plan to lead an international effort to educate every child in the world. As president, I would increase foreign assistance by $5 billion a year to make millions of people safer, healthier, and more democratic, and by creating a cabinet-level post to lead this effort.”
The full text of the speech can be found at the Edward’s Campaign website.
Rudy Giuliani gave a campaign stump speech in Keene, New Hampshire, on Wednesday. ONE members Kevin Schmitt and Melissa Skinner traveled there to make sure that the mayor heard from the ONE Campaign while he was in the Granite State.
When they finally got to Keene, they found out that the event was unfortunately closed to the public. But ONE members, Kevin and Melissa went above and beyond and waited two hours for the event to finish. After waiting patiently in the hot sun, a campaign staffer approached them and took them to meet privately with the mayor. They told me that Rudy was very familiar with the ONE Campaign and told them that our work fighting AIDS in Africa was very important. Melissa even put the ONE band on the mayor’s wrist you see in the photo.
By uniting as ONE, we have a unique and historic opportunity to make sure that the next president of the United States knows that fighting global disease and extreme poverty in the developing world is an American priority.
On Wednesday I attended a Duncan Hunter Meet and Greet in Mt Pleasant, South Carolina.
I arrived probably a good 45 minutes before Congressman Hunter arrived and just set up in the room where everyone was scheduled to meet. Everyone was very nice and knowledgeable about the ONE Campaign itself. I had no problems getting introduced and explaining to Congressman Hunter what ONE was all about. He was cordial and was not hesitant to take a bracelet.
Attached is the picture that I got.
Senator Sam Brownback was at Glen Oaks Country Club in Des Moines today to share lunch and meet with Iowa pastors and church representatives.
Brownback was in Sioux City earlier in the day before heading to Ames and Davenport later in the evening. He’ll conclude his Iowa trip tomorrow with a stop in Cedar Rapids at the Marriot Hotel.
ONE members were able to meet with Brownback in Des Moines where he took a ONE band and said what a wonderful job he thought the ONE campaign was doing.
A couple weeks ago, we asked you to tell your members of Congress to support the U.S. Commitment to Global Child Survival Act, a bipartisan bill led by Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Representatives Betty McCollum (D-MN) and Christopher Shays (R-CT).
Committed ONE members volunteered last week by helping sort and deliver these letters, but due to your overwhelming response, we are still finishing up personally delivering the letters to your Congress members’ offices.
This afternoon, I stepped aside from my PC for a while and made my way down to the Hill to help finish off the delivery process.
In one of the last offices I visited, the staff assistant for a congressman from Iowa greeted me warmly and asked if I worked for the ONE Campaign. After I told him I did, he proudly showed me his wrist, upon which hung two ONE bands! He let me know that he was a big ONE fan and to keep up the good work.
It is difficult to believe that in our day and age, 10 million children under the age of five still die from preventable diseases each year. In such a crisis, each vote in Congress is important, and ONE members are doing their part to bring an end to extreme poverty and preventable global diseases. Thanks to you, that movement is stepping forward once again. Tomorrow, we will finish off the delivery process. Stay tuned for updates.
ONE partner, Jubilee USA, is working to make poverty history by advocating for debt cancellation for impoverished Asian, Latin American, and African nations. Debt cancellation would free up more than $200 billion for developing nations. The best part is that the money must be used for poverty reduction programs by countries receiving debt cancellation. That means $200 billion for clean water, education, and health care programs to millions of people, giving impoverished countries an economic boost that could bring them out of long-lasting recessions that have cost millions of lives.
Are you interested in learning more? Join the Jubilee USA Network from June 15-17 in Chicago for our second annual grassroots conference – Deepening our Roots, Creating Community, Building a Movement. The conference is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about the international debt crisis and campaigns to challenge global poverty. Come to acquire the skills and knowledge we need to build an effective movement for economic justice for the world’s impoverished countries!
The Grassroots Conference will kick off on Friday, June 15 at 7 p.m. at the Holy Name Cathedral in downtown Chicago with an exciting opening event featuring Amy Goodman, host of Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now! and Tanzanian political cartoonist Godfrey “Gado” Mwampembwa. This opening event is completely free and open to the public. Even if you can’t make it for the whole conference, plan to join us on Friday night to hear Amy and Gado share their perspectives on journalism and economic justice activism North and South!
Interested in joining us? Check out the Conference Schedule and List of Scheduled Workshops and plan to join us in Chicago as we build the skills and knowledge we need to strengthen the movement for global economic justice! Visit the Grassroots Conference housing page for details on arranging a free home stay or special low-cost rooms. Register Online today!
Hope to see you there!
