Miami
Over the weekend, ONE volunteers participated in the Miami Poverty Conference, which took place at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The conference is a brand new initiative started by University of Miami students to educate members of the community and students from universities and colleges in the Miami-Dade area about the growing problem of poverty in their community and throughout the World.
Miami ONE Member, Alix Gordon and I led an interactive workshop to teach the students about ONE and our work in Florida to increase awareness about extreme poverty and preventable diseases, especially in Africa and Latin America. We talked about the different ways they can help achieve change through advocacy and encouraged each person to reach out to their elected leaders to ensure that America does not forget the World’s most vulnerable people.
After the conference, the University held a benefit concert, featuring poets, live bands and other artists who helped draw attention to the plight of those living in poverty. We set up a ONE information table at the concert and were able to talk to many more students about ONE and upcoming volunteer opportunities in the community.
Overall, the Miami Poverty Conference not only provided a forum to educate students about the growing problem of poverty, but also inspired students to actively engage in the community on these issues.
-Sara J. Paterni, FL Field Organizer
Dec 2nd, 2008 12:32 PM UTC
By Field
The City of Miami recognized the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day yesterday with a candlelight memorial and tree lighting ceremony at the Miami Riverside Center. ONE volunteers participated in the event to help raise awareness, educate and motivate people to continue to fight the disease.
The event began with an invocation by Reverend Raymond Carvil, Sr. and featured several speakers including Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Ed Resto from the Jackson Health System and Lillian Rivera, Miami Dade County Health Department Administrator.
After the tree lighting and candlelight vigil we had an opportunity to speak with Mayor Diaz and his staff. We talked about the goals of the ONE Campaign and thanked them for their commitment to raising awareness locally about HIV/AIDS and the devastating impacts of the disease.
We also talked to Commissioner Joe Sanchez about ONE’s presence in Florida, some of our recent activities in the area and our efforts to engage local leaders to help us raise awareness about extreme poverty and preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS. We gave him a ONE shirt and look forward to future meetings with his office.
By the end of the night we had passed out all of our wrist bands and made many new friends who share our commitment to fighting AIDS. With a collective voice, we believe that we can motivate our leaders to do more in the fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS.
-Sara Paterni
Nov 4th, 2008 1:12 PM UTC
By Field
In the months leading up to the election the south Florida ONE volunteers were very active in the community, reaching out to local universities and colleges as well as various political, religious and business leaders throughout the state to help keep the issues of extreme poverty a top priority during the election season.
I want to especially thank Paula Diaz, Alix Gordon, and Danielle DePas for their commitment to raising awareness about global health and poverty issues and for energizing others around them to get involved in our advocacy efforts. Paula, Alix and Danielle volunteered on countless nights and weekends and are the driving force behind Miami’s ONE Campaign.
ONE’s strong volunteer base in Florida enabled us to make a significant impact on the community, especially in these last three months leading up to the election. Thank you to each person that volunteered and partner organization that worked alongside us as we worked together to advocate for increased efforts to provide for basic needs like health, education, clean water and nutrition for the world’s poorest people.
-Sara Paterni
South Florida ONE volunteers were hot on the campaign trail yesterday, representing ONE at back-to-back rallies for Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama.
In the morning we went to the Everglades Lumberyard in Miami to hear Senator McCain speak. He was accompanied by fellow Republicans Governor Charlie Crist, Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart and Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Florida’s former Governor and current ONE Vote ’08 Co-Chair, Jeb Bush.
Just a few hours later Senators Obama and Biden held a campaign rally at the Bank Atlantic Center in Fort Lauderdale. Just when we thought we were not going to be able to get in, the security guards let us through and we found great seats just behind the stage.
With the election right around the corner, ONE volunteers are working harder than ever to maintain their strong presence on the campaign trail in Florida and to show the candidates that regardless of party affiliation, fighting global disease and extreme poverty must be a priority in the next administration.
-Sara Paterni
Aug 5th, 2008 2:12 PM UTC
By Field
On Sunday Miami ONE Members in Miami, met with Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to thank her for her leadership in the passage of PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS RElief) and for her continued support of policies to fight global disease and extreme poverty around the world.
The congresswoman expressed tremendous appreciation for our efforts on the ground and commended ONE and our partner organizations for working together to engage the community and raise awareness about extreme poverty. She was especially happy to hear (more…)
Apr 7th, 2008 4:32 PM UTC
By Field
On Friday, March 29th and Saturday March 30th, volunteers from ONE Miami tabled at “Ultra Music Festival,” a 2-day concert composed of more than 100 DJs from around the world and an estimated 70,000 attendees. Our 10×10 ft. plot of land drew a good amount of attention. We adorned our table with a white sheet, a banner, flyers, business cards, and of course, the declaration.
We also set up a white sheet to serve as a film screen, a LCD projector and a computer to show ONE commercials and ONE Miami created videos. I like to believe we had the best looking booth at the festival, but I may be a bit biased. Many people came to look at the visuals, but they stayed to discuss the issues of extreme poverty and HIV/AIDS. A phenomenon of this tabling event that I have not seen before was that not one person walked away without having signed the declaration.
Once the crowd around our table died down, we took our agenda to the crowd. We weaved around the multiple stages in our ONE t-shirts, armed with flyers, wristbands, and the declaration. We spoke to concert goers and vendors, security and entertainment. Many people were very receptive and even had stories of their own to share.
Tabling for ONE provides a unique opportunity to meet many different people and share perspectives on very serious issues. Oftentimes you spark in people a latent desire to make this world better that is particularly inspiring. When this happens, and it is quite often, you find the real pleasure of tabling for ONE.
[Lots more photos from Ultra Miami on Flickr here.]
-Danielle De Pas, ONEMiami Volunteer
