Yesterday, Philadelphia became a ONE City. Below is video from the event and comments from Pastor and ONE member Matt Staniz.

Today, Philadelphia once again lives up to its name by placing the name of our city side by side with ONE, an advocacy organization of more than 2 million strong committed members to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. ONE is a vital movement in the world today. It reflects the type of love that we must have for each other: a love that is reflected in justice, equality, and action. This is Philadelphia-style “brotherly love” at its finest!

I want thank Deesha Dyer and the PA ONE members she worked with for making this day possible.  Every letter, every phone call, every ounce of effort and every second of time that you gave has produced results.  Thank you.  Everything that begins today, begins because of you.

And thank you to Mayor Michael A. Nutter for hearing Deesha and the PA ONE members. It really is a natural fit.  Thank you, Mister Mayor, for declaring the city of Philadelphia a ONE city . It was just a few blocks east of this building on Independence Mall where ONE was launched in 2004.  A year later, it was few blocks up the Benjamin Franklin parkway where over a million of us gathered for “Live 8″ and raised our voices to “make poverty history”.  Philadelphia has been at the heart of this movement.  Today we proudly celebrate that this movement reflects the heart of Philadelphia.

This declaration reflects visionary leadership rooted in hope for a future shaped by action today.  As we celebrate this commitment to fight extreme poverty, Mister Mayor, we also look forward to working together to keep these promises being made today to our poorest sisters and brothers around the world.  I am also convinced that as we make these commitments to the poor around the world, it will also guide our continued efforts to care for our friends and neighbors right here in the city of brotherly love.  Raising a voice on behalf of the poor is how faith creates action, it is how compassion creates justice, it is how concern creates change.

Today we stand together as ONE.  We stand as ONE with the poor.  We stand as ONE with the billion people trying to survive on less than two dollars a day.  We stand as ONE with the thousands who are dying of preventable and treatable diseases.  We stand as ONE with millions of people committed to changing these realities.  Today we stand together as ONE Philadelphia.

We are the city of brotherly love, and we are a ONE city!  Thank you.

-Pastor Matt Staniz