Jul 28th, 2009 2:13 PM UTC
By Danielle DePas
|
I am proud to announce the next city to join the ranks of ONE. Last week, Mayor Eisinger presented Andre Riley and his fellow students from ONE Pines Charter a proclamation declaring Cooper City a City of ONE.
 The students were received by the mayor to a large round of applause as they introduced themselves at the City Hall meeting. ONE may not have been the only group honored that day, but thanks to Andre, we were the only group to give an acceptance speech. Andre flashed his famous charismatic smile and took the microphone away from the mayor to offer gratitude, explain the goals of ONE, and direct people to ONE.org to sign the declaration.
Cooper City now joins Pembroke Pines in the book of success stories as the students of ONE Pines Charter endeavor to light up Broward County, city by city, with these proclamations. Congratulations team, on a job well done!
-Danielle DePas, advisor to ONE Pines Charter
|
Jul 13th, 2009 3:22 PM UTC
By Danielle DePas
|
 Over the weekend ONE members from Broward County, Florida joined with the local Oxfam chapter to view two inspirational documentaries, Sons of Lwala and Sisters on the Planet.
First we watched Sons of Lwala, which is a powerful film about two brothers from Kenya, whose village sent them to America to become doctors. After losing both parents to AIDS, they return home to Lwala to, against all odds, build a community health center – the first health center in the village and the only one in the region.
Afterwards we had a rich discussion about the challenges associated with the conditions of extreme poverty and had the opportunity to view the Oxfam film, Sisters on the Planet which showed how climate change is impacting those in the developing world, especially women.
Both films reminded me that we have made remarkable strides in reducing extreme poverty, but we still have a long way to go to ensure that everyone has access to adequate food and shelter, education, economic opportunity, and needed services like health care.
-Danielle DePas, Florida ONE Member
|
Jun 2nd, 2009 5:10 PM UTC
By Danielle DePas
|
The long anticipated Florida ONE Membership has come and gone. Because of the diligent work on behalf of Sara Paterni and the good people at ONE Headquarters, Florida ONE members not only received advocacy training, but also were able to network with ONE volunteers from all over the state and collaborate on ideas for future activities and events. David Lane kicked off the conference with a special message of inspiration. We heard from esteemed guest speakers who left us with important information to guide us through our work as volunteers.
Although ONE headquarters worked very hard to put together this event, they also offered Miami volunteers an opportunity to take part in the presentations. This was greatly appreciated, because it gave the ONE Miami crew an opportunity to meet and connect with the new recruits and old veterans. ONE Miami members and the students of ONE Pines Charter High School lead break-out sessions on event planning, legislative visits, college and high school coordination, etc. We talked one-on-one with potential new members and are looking forward to connecting with many of them in the future.
Overall, the event was a success and we are excited to see what the future holds for ONE Florida!
-Danielle DePas, FL ONE
|
