Last week, only days to go before Florida voters cast their ballots, fellow ONE member Zach Lamb and I attended a State of the Union watch party hosted by the Jacksonville Young Democrats, a group eager to help build support for the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. Since ONE is a nonpartisan organization, I suggested that promoting ONE within the community might be a great opportunity to reach out and partner with the Young Republicans. And so began a fun few days delivering on ONE Vote 2012.

The Young Democrats were kind enough to invite us back two nights later to watch the Republican debate, which took place right here in Jacksonville.

The next day we visited some of the presidential campaign offices in town. We were warmly welcomed everywhere we went. The staff at the office of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., even invited us back to watch the debate with them!

Our first stop the day of the debate was a morning event with Gov. Mitt Romney. The man of the hour himself came right over to Zach and me after his remarks — and seeing the ONE logo on our T-shirts, he told us that we were doing a great job! His words were very encouraging and energized us for the day ahead.

When it came time for the debate, Zach and I decided to take up both the Young Democrats and Gingrich’s team on their offers. We split ways for the night; Zach joined Gingrich’s staff and I joined the Young Democrats.

During the debate, we were pleased to hear Romney speak about how the US should help spread universal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as well as promote sustainable economic success through smart trade policies.

The Young Democrats had a special guest join them for their event: Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She shared brief remarks with the group, carefully studied the questions and answers from the debate, gave multiple television interviews, and even took a minute to speak to me about ONE.

Florida voters will now play their role in the selection of a Republican nominee for president. Whoever the challenger turns out to be, I hope that both parties will continue to agree on their support of life-saving programs for the world’s poorest people.

In my last post, I showed you some of the really cool things that can happen in a day in the life of a ONE Vote organizer. But sometimes, things don’t always go as planned. Such has been the case for my recent exploits down here in the Sunshine State in the build up to the primary. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to complain about being near the beach, but patience is definitely a virtue on the campaign trail.

Thursday, I made the two-hour trek down to Pensacola, Fla., from where I am staying with family in Panama City Beach. As soon as I arrived at what was to be an event with presidential candidate Sen. Rick Santorum, a torrential downpour made the event soggy and unpleasant for someone who forgot their umbrella. But luckily, I had a cool ONE hoodie nearby (shameless ONE Store plug, check them out). To my dismay, the crowd gathered was told that Senator Santorum couldn’t land due to the severe weather threat, and thus I trudged back to my car for what was not looking like a fun ride back. But when life gives you severe weather that makes road conditions hazardous, get FroYo until the storm passes!

Then on Saturday, the big Governor Mitt Romney rally was right here in Panama City, so I made my way out on what was a beautiful, sunny and warm day (I know everyone experiencing real winter is yelling through their computer screens at me).

I came so close to getting a chance to speak with Gov. Romney, edging my way in through the crowds to get to the rope line (which has become an art form after all of these months) — but due to patterns of candidate hand-shaking dynamics (that’s the scientific name, right?) I missed out on speaking to the Governor. I still haven’t mastered the mathematics of when a candidate will move to the other side of the rope line, but I think the variable cute baby was the determining factor of this miss.

It all works out in the end though, because yesterday, I made my way to Speaker Newt Gingrich’s event in Pensacola. Using my crowd-dodging skills, I once again made my way into the path of the Speaker and had a chance to talk to him about ONE and smart investments that save lives and promote American security, the latter being something he had touched on in his remarks, to which I received a nice thumbs up. Awesome!

Being an advocate for the world’s poorest can present challenges, and some days are rainier than others, but the ultimate reward comes when you know your voice was heard!

RSVP here: http://act.one.org/event/GeneralEvent/10033

An annual event, Bayside Rocks is a 100 percent eco-friendly and family fun-filled day of social consciousness, community and environmental awareness that showcases environmental sustainability along with an urgent humanitarian effort to fight poverty and feed the hungry. Patrons are asked to contribute two or more cans of food as part of the cost of admission. Proceeds from this year’s ticket sales and food drive will benefit Curley’s House, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for low-to-moderate-income individuals, families, the elderly, youth-at-risk, the abused, and HIV-positive individuals by providing the nutrition they need.

In addition to a special tribute to the life of Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley and 50 years of Wailers music, this year’s Bayside Rocks will feature world music headliners Bunny Wailer and the Original Wailers. Also hitting the stage are a unique group of artists whose musical brilliance is eclipsed only by their message of love and hope.

ONE events are a great way to learn about ONE, international development and the fight against global poverty, and meet other ONE members in your area. If you’re in the area and would like to help speak to this big gathering of people who care about ending extreme poverty, sign up here.

-Alix Gordon, Congressional District leader

Clouds and a few rain showers couldn’t slow down ONE volunteers at the U2 concert in Miami, Florida. Thirty volunteers from as far away as North Carolina canvassed parking lots, lines and the Sun Life Stadium signing up 3,547 concert goers as new ONE members! When U2 came on stage, thousands of new members could be seen around the stadium wearing their “I Am ONE” bands.

Not only did the volunteers sign up thousands of new members, but they also made the front page of the Sun Sentinel, one of South Florida’s largest papers. The article talked about some of the great work ONE members have done in the state of Florida from local high schools to the University of Florida. Check out this video clip for an overview of the night!

-Lee Ziesche, ONE member, Florida

Sen. Rubio told Will that we have to be more careful where we spend our foreign aid, but our perception of how much we actually spend is exaggerated, and is not the reason why we have growing debt in America. “If it’s done right, it can spread America’s influence around the world,” he said. I won’t tell you his whole answer, so listen to his response in the video below:

This year for World AIDS Day, the group created the PSA below in an effort to continue educating the community about how we can help raise awareness of the global impact of HIV/AIDS. Take a minute to check it out, and be sure to check out ONE’s volunteer resources to learn about how you can get involved.

Yesterday, the Pembroke Pines Charter High School faculty and student body gathered outside to rally in support of ONE’s fight to ensure that no child is born with HIV by 2015. More than 200 students showed up with signs and flags to help get the message across, all while donning ONE shirts.

During the event, many of the students took some time to record their ONE wish for World AIDS Day. Check out what they had to say and be sure to tweet your ONE wish this week!

Overall, our World AIDS Day event helped to highlight the success of proven, effective efforts to save lives in Africa — efforts that have helped nearly 5 million Africans with HIV/AIDS access antiretroviral treatment, and have helped 930,000 pregnant women access the HIV medicine that prevents passage of the infection to their babies.

–Enrique Batista, ONE member, Florida

Last week, Miami Beach officially became “ONE City,” a declaration that the city is united against global poverty and preventable disease!

Recognizing years of hard work by Miami ONE members — including congressional district leaders Alix Gordon, Betsy Skipp and Danielle DePas — Mayor Matti Herrera Bower issued an official proclamation, underscoring the importance of local advocacy efforts to fight poverty, save lives from disease, put children in school and increase opportunities in poor countries around the world, particularly in Africa.

By being declared a ONE City, Miami Beach joins more than 130 ONE Cities across the nation in helping raise awareness about simple, effective solutions that can save the lives of millions of people.

In just the last several years, America’s global poverty-fighting and disease-fighting efforts have delivered historic results, and we thank Mayor Herrera Bower for recognizing the important role Miami Beach citizens play in the global economy and community.

This past Friday evening, I attended a rally for Congressman and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek, who appeared with DNC Chairman and former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.

The event took place at the Miami Dade College campus in Homestead, Florida. After Gov. Kaine rallied the crowd, and recognized Congressman Meek and other Democrats, he recognized me in my ONE shirt as he was leaving. When he saw me he said, “Hey ONE Campaign!” After I introduced myself, he took time to compliment the work we are doing across the country to help urge our elected leaders to continue U.S. efforts to fight extreme poverty and global disease in the poorest parts of Africa.

We are now one week away from Election Day. Florida ONE members have been out on the campaign trail over the last few months, talking with U.S. Senate candidates and voters, about the life-and-death issues of extreme poverty and preventable disease in the developing world.

But we are not done yet, ONE members in Florida will continue bringing the fight against extreme poverty to campaign events across the state over the final days of this election season. Please join our team to get updates and find out how you can get involved over these last few days of ONE Vote 2010.

Be sure to connect with other ONE Vote 2010 [FLORIDA] members on Facebook and Twitter.

-Will Godfrey, ONE Vote 2010 Florida State Organizer

On Saturday, just 10 days before the midterm election, former vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin traveled to Orlando for a GOP rally with U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio. With many elected leaders, press and voters in attendance, we knew this would be a great opportunity for ONE to continue to get the word out about our efforts to rally Americans in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease in the developing world.

When the event kicked off around 3 P.M., our group of ONE members were right up front, waving ONE signs and proudly displaying our ONE shirts.

While we listened to speeches from Gov. Palin, Marco Rubio and many of the other top Republican leaders, I was thinking what the view must look like from stage — so many people were there showing support for ONE and our nonpartisan movement to help celebrate efforts to save lives and make sure that life-and-death issues like hunger, HIV/AIDS and malaria remain a key focus of U.S. foreign policy.

As the event came to a close, I was able to quickly introduce myself and ONE to Gov. Palin. With almost no time to chat, I did not get the chance to remind her of our recent engagement with her in Iowa, but I did thank her for always making time for ONE on the campaign trail in 2008 and beyond. Stay tuned to the ONE blog to see our photo with Sarah Palin, which will be posted later this week!

Live in Florida and want to join the campaign trail, too? Follow me on Twitter or join ONE’s South Central Region Facebook Group.