One week ago at scoop shops across the country volunteers helped launch the new Ben & Jerry’s flavor, ONE Cheesecake Brownie, to spread the word about ONE, recruit new members and enjoy a free frosty delicious treat. Nationwide, approximately 250,000 ONE Bands were distributed at 350 participating shops on April 29th for free cone day.

As a wrap-up from one of our most successful national efforts, here are some selected stories ONE members wanted to share:

Debra Goldenberg, Berkeley, CA:

Berkeley event went well, 105 people signed up with ONE. Most didn’t have time to linger at the table, as they were rushing in to get icecream, but I did make some connections with a couple of active UC Berkeley students (one invited me to table at an upcoming event she is holding with her Roots and Shoots chapter, which is a group founded by Jane Goodall) and with staff from the Seva Foundation, www.seva.org, which also had a table at the store. I suggested they partner with ONE, it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

One thing I learned this time, the handouts, while full of wonderful information, are too dense for many people at this event, they did not want to read that much or take papers with them, and were more attracted to the colorful vote08 brochures. I know those are expensive…I think next time I will print a few bold point of interest facts to display that will help start conversations and maybe prompt them to look into more information in the handouts.

And I got to taste brownie cheesecake,,,yum! It was a fun day, the time went very fast!

Colin Woods, Ft. Collins, CO:

It went fantastic. And i felt like it was a huge success. I was even able to contact another very enthused guy. He would like to start putting together meetings and he is the leader in a band and wants ONE stuff to be at all his concerts. He is a great guy. We gave out hundreds and hundreds of bands. It was great. Unfortunately, however only 3 people were able to help with the table but it turned out fine anyway. I think any more and people would have been afraid to look over at the table. Thank you for contacting me about this event it was a great experience and I hope I can help out more in the future.

Chris Geer, ONE Vote ‘08, Pennsylvania:

With things quieting down on the presidential campaign in Pennsylvania following the primary election on April 22, ONE Vote ’08 took advantage of the lull by enjoying some free ice cream! Ben & Jerry’s held a free cone day at its “scoop shops” across the country on Tuesday – this year highlighting its partnership with ONE with their new flavor, ONE Cheesecake Brownie.

Starting at noon, ONE Vote ’08 staff were out for the day at the Pittsburgh Ben & Jerry’s with ONE volunteers signing up new ONE Members, handing out literature and ONE bands to the lines of people out for the free cones. Over 120 new ONE Members signed the ONE declaration, some stopping to talk about the real issues of poverty and global disease and many joining up as volunteers. While numerous people had heard of ONE and knew of Bono’s connection to the organization, for most it was a great chance to get the word out about OV08 and the opportunities we have because of the election in November.

Cherie Martinez, Marin County, CA:

A friend and I set up at the Greenbrae (Marin County, CA) Ben & Jerry’s store. John the owner and two of his kids along with other scoopers were very helpful and really enjoyed the event.

There were lots of people to take part in the Free Cone Day. We signed up 80+ people. It was encouraging to hear so many young kids and teenagers asking about ONE. There was one kid - he was six - asking what diseases were in Africa and what is a bed net and what did the ONE people do to help. He said he didn’t have email, but when he got it he would sign up.

It was a busy afternoon and a bit frantic at times, as the line grew long for a couple of hours. It certainly was a great success.

This little girl had just been back for her second choice on Free Cone (Cup) Day. She seemed really happy about it.

Matt Higgenson, ONE Vote ‘08 Nevada:

Tuesday, April 29th was a very tasty day in Las Vegas NV. Recently Ben & Jerry’s launched their a new ONE flavor of ice cream to help raise awareness about extreme poverty and global disease.

In addition to launching “ONE Cheesecake Brownie” Ben & Jerry’s teamed up with ONE for their annual free cone day. At participating shops throughout the country Ben & Jerry’s staffers were in ONE shirts and the shops had ONE literature on hand to give to customers.

The ONE Vegas chapter was on hand at a couple shops in Las Vegas to sign up new members and talk with patrons about ONE’s efforts to save lives and eradicate extreme poverty.

Ambassador of ONE, Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, was a guest scooper at one Ben & Jerry’s location. Mayor Gibson has already declared Henderson a “City of ONE” and remains committed to helping his constituents understand the importance of eradicating diseases like malaria and tuberculosis.

Danielle DePas, ONEMiami:

The high school students from ONE Pines Charter were at the Ben and Jerry’s at the Hard Rock Casino in Ft. Lauderdale. They talked to many people, took a lot of cool pictures, got about 80 signatures, and loved the ice cream! Fleet week was in town, so we saw a lot of uniforms.

Rochelle Gibbs, Twin Cities:

We spent our time between two locations in the Twin Cites - 3 of us (including Libby from OV08) spent the full day at America’s first indoor mall and we collected more than 200 signatures. Another volunteer spent the evening at a very energetic UofM campus location that brought in their own DJ. In my location, it was mostly passerbys stopping by the kiosk to take advantage of the free ice cream and they had never heard of ONE prior to this day. I thought this was a great promotion that allowed us to connect with folks who would not have otherwise heard of ONE.

ONE Dallas:

Dallas had a great time!! We gave out a TON of information to tons of people. Nikki McKibbin from American Idol Season ONE was our Celebrity Scooper and she did an autograph signing as well! She seemed to really have a good time! I have uploaded pictures on the ONEDallas myspace….. myspace.com/onedallas!

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