Don’t Forget your Band, Mr. Edwards!

Jul 23rd, 2007 11:30 AM UTC
By Rose Bonesso, ONE Member, Pittsburgh, PA

Since ONE launched ONE Vote ’08 last month I have been keeping an eye out for presidential candidates from both parties to make a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. I wanted to let them know that as an American I want our next president to be a leader in the fight against extreme poverty and global AIDS. I got my first opportunity on Tuesday, July 17, when Senator John Edwards gave a speech at a local non-profit organization, Hill House. So I grabbed my friend Bethany, and we put on our ONE T-shirts and headed out to go use our voices for the world’s poorest people!

I was glad we wore the ONE shirt because when we arrived at the event many people in the crowd came up to tell us that they were members of ONE. Others had never heard of the campaign, so we told them about how they can get involved right here in Pittsburgh in the fight for the billion people around the world who live on less than a dollar a day.

After Senator Edwards spoke he spent time meeting people in the crowd and Bethany and I took our opportunity to speak with him. When it was our turn I said, “Senator! You’re not wearing your ONE band!” As he took the band and put it on he said he had just forgotten his and would take one of mine to wear now. He then mentioned the role the United States must take in fighting global poverty and AIDS and thanked Bethany and I for our volunteer work for ONE.

All in all, it turned out to be an excellent opportunity to support ONE, and I can not wait till the next candidate comes through town! For me, it is not about a candidate or a political party, it is about showing all the candidates, both Republicans and Democrats, that I am just one of millions of Americans who want to make the fight against extreme poverty and the global disease to be a priority in the 2008 presidential election.

TAGS: ONE Vote 08, Sen. John Edwards, The ONE Blog