Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is traveling around the country on his new book tour for “Courage to Stand,” which included a couple stops in Iowa during the weekend. I got a chance to talk to him this morning while he was signing books in West Des Moines. I thanked Gov. Pawlenty for his ongoing support of ONE as he said he sees ONE members everywhere.
We talked about the great work of President Bush leading the battle on fighting HIV/AIDS in the developing world with PEPFAR. I told him how proud I was as an American to go to Malawi last year and see firsthand successful US supported programs saving lives and making the world a little safer for us all. As a mother, it was especially powerful to see the significant role vaccines can make in the lives of children if they are affordable and accessible. Finally we got to talk briefly about Michael Gerson’s recent article in the Washington Post about the power of vaccines.
I thanked him for taking the time and he thanked me for “standing strong and for all the great service to others” as he wrote in a copy of his book.
Last week, several ONE members, led by ONE congressional district leader Leslie Scott, volunteered at Switchfoot’s concert in Kansas City. Despite the fact that it was homecoming weekend at my university and I had a literature review to work on, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to volunteer for ONE, so I drove two hours to the concert. It’s fitting that I got to be a ONE volunteer at a Switchfoot concert because it’s through them that I found out about the HIV/AIDS crisis and the advocacy organization DATA — which has since merged and become ONE.
ONE volunteers at the Switchfoot show in Kansas City
At the concert, we talked with concertgoers individually and invited them to join ONE. To those who signed up, we gave ONE pins, stickers and ONE bands so they could represent ONE and our efforts to rally Americans in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease. I personally encountered a few friends of mine and got them all to join, too. As I was about to invite one girl to join ONE, she beat me to the punch and told me how interested she was in getting involved locally with ONE. I was all too happy to hand her my clipboard to sign up. We ended up gaining dozens of new ONE members that night!
Switchfoot has been a long-time supporter of ONE, and they continued showing ONE some love that night during their show. Bassist Tim Foreman wore a ONE T-shirt, and frontman Jon Foreman thanked ONE from the stage toward the end of the concert.
Overall, it was a great night and I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to volunteer at the concert with ONE!
-William Payne, ONE member, Kansas
…And in Omaha
We had a great group of about nine ONE volunteers — some new to ONE, some old pros — who all did a super job! We talked to concertgoers and ended up recruiting more than 140 new members!
ONE Volunteers at the Switchfoot show in Omaha
The concert was also great. Lead singer Jon Foreman gave a shout out to the ONE campaign from stage and thanked us for coming. Later, I was holding up a ONE shirt and he pointed and smiled.
It was a really great experience and I look forward to working with these volunteers and new members soon!
- Steve White, congressional district leader, Omaha
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell was in Iowa this weekend as the keynote speakers at the annual Jefferson Jackson dinner in Des Moines. I wanted to talk to him about ONE and our Global Fund campaign, knowing he has probably seen the many awesome ONE members in Pennsylvania.
I wanted to tell him that as a mother, I believe all babies should be born happy and healthy. I wanted to ask him to go back to Pennsylvania and work with his US Congress members to make sure that the President’s recent $4 billion commitment to the Global Fund becomes a reality starting in the budget and appropriations process next year.
These are all the things I wanted to say, but when the governor was being whisked away after his speech I only had 2 seconds to say thank you for your support, shake his hand and give him a ONE band. When he realized what it was, he smiled held it up and gave me a nod.
I know he didn’t get everything I was thinking just from handing him a ONE band but I am sure when he goes home and sees ONE members in Pennsylvania he will remember all the things he said in his speech about giving people opportunities and that he will remember the US’s efforts in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease and all of the work that ONE members take in his home state.
President Barack Obama was talking with Iowans in my neighborhood this morning. Although I was able to get inside the event, three ONE members were lucky enough to be invited to the backyard town hall. They all wore their ONE bands and pins, but unfortunately, they didn’t get a chance to talk with the president individually.
But outside of the event, I stood on the corner across the street with other ONE members in ONE shirts, holding signs that asked the president to support the Global Fund. I was proud to be out there to show support for ONE and the world’s poorest people!
While we were standing there, waiting for the president to leave, a lot of people asked me what ONE was about. We had a chance to tell them about our campaign for the Global Fund, and how we can help ensure that no baby is born with HIV by 2015. One of the women standing next to us was a nurse who had worked with newborn babies, and she too agreed that all babies, no matter where they are born, deserve a fresh start on a healthy life.
Finally, when the President was on his way out, we held our signs up high — and when he saw us, he waved and gave a big thumbs up!
Even though I didn’t get to talk to him, I am glad he saw ONE members today in Iowa and hope he remembers ONE and our signs.
But you can do more than hope that President Obama supports the Global Fund — you can call him right now and urge him to pledge $6 billion to the Global Fund to ensure that no child is born with HIV by 2015!
In response to ONE’s latest video, “No Child Born With HIV By 2015,”Dr. Neil Mandsager — a ONE member, an OB/GYN and board member for ChildVoice International — shares his experience with helping expecting HIV-positive women prevent the spread of the virus to their babies:
“We can stop this”
As an obstetrician working with high-risk pregnancies, I now see women with HIV who have essentially zero risk of passing the virus onto their unborn baby because of the medications they are taking. But I work in the U.S., where these medications are readily available, even to women without private insurance. I also have provided medical care in Northern Uganda over the past few years where these medications are often unavailable.
Neil Mandsager, MD and a new baby
And in Northern Uganda, as in many other developing countries where HIV is a major problem, women with HIV — through no fault of their own — continue to pass on the virus to their babies. Oftentimes, these infected babies will then die at a very young age.
We can stop this. We know how to bring the level of the virus in pregnant women down to such a low level that her baby will not become infected with the virus, even with a normal vaginal delivery. I applaud ONE in taking on this cause, encouraging countries like the U.S. to step up and make these drugs available to all women around the world. I encourage you to go to ONE.org and speak up for those who can’t.
If my son could talk, or knew anything about the subject, he would want to make sure that babies around the world are born happy, healthy and HIV free. So, I took him to Sen. Tom Harkin’s, (D-Iowa), annual Steak Fry event yesterday in Indianola, Iowa to do his first advocacy work along with a couple ONE leaders from Drake University.
We were lucky enough to meet Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod and briefly ask him to encourage President Obama to make a robust $6 billion commitment to the Global Fund at the replenishment meeting next month. If the Global Fund is fully supported, it can continue its life-saving programs and make sure that no baby is born HIV positive by 2015. Check out our conversation in the video above.
We also had some great conversations with Rep. Dave Loebsack, (D-Iowa), Rep. Leonard Boswell, (D-Iowa), Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, as well as U.S. Senate candidate Roxanne Conlin about continuing to support the U.S.’s historic and heroic leadership of fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease by investing in proven and effective programs like the Global Fund.
Someday, when my son can understand, I am sure he will be proud that he went out on a hot day to advocate for other babies so that they can have a fresh start on life, HIV free. Follow Libby on Twitter for the latest member updates on the ground.
- Libby Crimmings, ONE regional field director
Governor Tim Pawlenty and his wife Mary were in Des Moines yesterday for an event downtown. Colton Davis, ONE’s local Congressional District Leader, and I decided to stop down and say hi, and advocate to him about ONE and the world’s poorest people. Just a day after he saw ONE in Dover, New Hampshire.
We thanked the Governor and Mrs. Pawlenty for making Minnesota a ONE State back in 2008, and gave the them each a ONE bands. We also gave Gov. Pawlenty a copy of On the Move a book of Bono’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2006 along with photos from his first trip to Ethiopia. We even printed out a copy of the ONE blog from a few weeks ago when Bono received the Atlantic Councils first ever humanitarian leadership award this year and long time supporter Sen. John McCain giving the introduction. I trust that the Governor and Mrs. Pawlenty will find some time in their travels to read through these and know how America is responding to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with bold leadership.
Like in 2008, ONE members are making sure that all candidates, from all parties, know that continued support and investment in proven life saving programs like PEPFAR and the Global Fund, yield results not only in lives saved, but also in strengthening our national security at home and making the world safer for us all.
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![Switchfoot volunteers Kansas City[1]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1143/5115645136_9667830126.jpg)
