A month ago I received an email from a ONE Member named Gina Kim who simply said she wanted to do a small local event that brings attention to those living on less than $1 a day, and she wanted to do it with ONE. Well, I’d never met Gina before in my life, we lived over 450 miles away from each other, and I didn’t know she was also a ONE member. So, of course I said, “Sounds Great. Let’s do it!” – I called her and together we mapped a game plan over the phone.

Immediately Gina got a couple of friends together and they built a small coalition of people in her community. After just a couple weeks of spreading the word, Gina’s coalition included volunteers from church groups, student groups, local entertainers, a Starbucks and a shopping center called Amerige Heights Town Center. They scheduled a date and a set an important goal: Talk about extreme poverty, the solutions, the successes, and talk to as many people as possible in ONE business day! – AND WHAT A DAY IT WAS!

While 9 different performers drew crowds to the ONE stage, 15 volunteers went to work to start conversations. Computers were set up to show video clips of the work thousands of ONE members are doing around the country. Volunteers wearing ONE shirts handed out wristbands, recruited new members and started global poverty conversations throughout the day. It turns out that Gina’s short email to me, over a month ago, resulted in nearly 1 new ONE Member every 2 minutes that day! — And twice as many conversations! Gina said they were all so proud after their event and in her most recent email, Gina expressed: “..[in] the spirit of reverence toward becoming socially relevant… [a] community found itself chiming into a social agreement to make poverty history!”

ONE members like Gina are getting in touch with their local organizers all the time. Together we are finding creative ways to educate Americans on the smart solutions to fight extreme global poverty. Get involved with us! If you’re not sure how to get started contact your local field organizer, OR you can find a local event in progress.

Thanks for the email Gina – maybe ONE day we’ll get a chance to meet in person!

-Roscoe Mapps, ONE California