As the candidates, media and ONE Vote get ready to head over to the Florida primary, I decided to recap my time at the South Carolina primary with something a little different: a list of my top 10 favorite things about the First in the South primary.
10. You never know what candidate events will bring. In South Carolina, we sent two ONE members to the Lowcountry Sportsmen Barbecue for Newt Gingrich. We didn’t know what a “lowcountry sportsman” was, but we took a leap of faith and sent Kate and Adrienne out to talk with Speaker Gingrich about extreme poverty-fighting. And it was well worth it, as the ladies had an opportunity to speak with Gingrich directly.
ONE Vote Organizer Zach Lamb reflects on his favorite part of being on the campaign trail.
Whew, our First in the South primaries sure have caused a little shakeup.
Now that the votes are in and the candidates are moving to the Sunshine State, I took a moment to reflect on what I thought was a rather exciting moment. While talking to the candidates and surrogates about the importance of development aid has been crucial, I think my favorite part of this cycle is educating the voters around me in the crowds about foreign aid.
ONE Illinois member Janet Glavin reports on a recent ONE event with Rotary International in Peoria.
The cold and snowy weather didn’t stop ONE Peoria from giving our first presentation to members of Rotary Club of Peoria Downtown about ONE’s official collaboration with Rotary International. We shared information about ONE’s mission and highlighted the Living Proof successes and detailed several key issues of focus for ONE, including childhood vaccines that Rotarians could help support with their advocacy, and projects to help further eradicate extreme poverty. We also highlighted area ONE volunteer engagement with members of Congress and made a call to action for the club and individual members to join ONE. Twenty members signed up on the spot! A great beginning.
Charlie Harris, our ONE Vote organizer for South Carolina, walks us through a typical day on the presidential campaign trail.
The campaign trail is an exciting place to work, especially when you are out talking about the fight against extreme poverty with voters, campaigns, and candidates. It is an immensely rewarding experience, though on some days, plenty of coffee is needed to make it through!
1. The alarm buzzes too early sometimes, but when you have a chance to get your ONE shirt on TV, sometimes you have to wake up before the chickens.
The eyes of the nation are on South Carolina as voters here go to the polls this Saturday. ONE members in South Carolina have been all across the state talking to candidates, campaigns and voters. To recap some of the past few days, we started last Sunday in Myrtle Beach. ONE had a booth as part of the SCGOP experience exhibition there, and we handed out coffee and talked to voters and SC politicos about our ONE Vote 2012 campaign. The great response and support from everyone we spoke to was inspiring, and showed how these issues really resonate with people from all political backgrounds.
ONE Volunteers Doug and Stuart at the ONE Vote booth in Myrtle Beach
Several ONE members had the great pleasure of attending Senator Chris Coons’ first “Opportunity: Africa Conference” at the University of Delaware, Wilmington campus yesterday. The afternoon began with remarks from the Senator, including a thank you to ONE for our calls and letters. They do make a difference!
ONE members were active during New Hampshire’s First In The Nation Primary educating candidates and voters on the importance of life-saving programs. ONE Vote Organizer Thomas Leary reports.
The ONE T-shirt had been a common sight on the campaign trail throughout 2011. As the excitement moved on from Iowa to New Hampshire, the candidates kicked it up a notch in the Granite State. Most of the presidential hopefuls were hosting multiple events across the state every day leading up to the primary. ONE members were right there with them every step of the way!
While the days started early and the nights ran long, ONE members only had to think about why we do what we do to find the energy to continue. Knowing that one of the candidates visiting historic theaters or high school gymnasiums could become the next president of the United States meant that we wanted to ensure support for solutions that save millions of lives, create a safe and more stable world and uphold a proud American legacy, all for less than 1 percent of the federal budget.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
