On Tuesday Miami ONE member Alix Gordon and I went along with Jenni Rothenberg from the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign to meet with the offices of Florida Representatives Kendrick Meek (D-FL-17) and Alcee Hastings (D-FL-23).

During both meetings we asked for support of President Obama’s request for a $4.5 billion dollar increase in the International Affairs budget as well as for support of the reauthorization of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961-which will ensure that there is unified U.S. development assistance policy and sufficient resources to meet the challenges of reducing poverty.

During our meeting with Joyce Postell, District Director for Representative Meek, we thanked her for her boss’s support of the PEPFAR reauthorization and for cosponsoring the Jubilee Act in the last Congress. We also encouraged Rep. Meek to support President Obama’s International Affairs budget request to make sure we are taking the steps necessary to work towards global stability and improving America’s image abroad.

Later the same day we met with Patricia Williams, the Deputy District Director for Representative Hastings in his Fort Lauderdale office. We are pleased to report that Representative Hastings has already signed onto a support letter to the House Budget Committee Chairman asking for the $4.5 billion increase in the International Affairs budget.

As ONE members, we know that a robust International Affairs budget will not only help boost U.S. efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, but also provide America with opportunities to build global stability and generate much needed allies.

-Sara Paterni, FL ONE Field Organizer

The screening may be over but we are still making “A Powerful Noise” here in Florida. On Friday, I joined our local CARE organizer, Terriah Proechel for a group discussion on the issues presented in the documentary. Most importantly, the film brought to our attention the role that women and girls play in fighting injustice and extreme poverty in countries around the world.

The film reminded us that when women and girls have the opportunity, they can become powerful catalysts for change in their societies. We all found that the stories presented in the film inspiring and are empowered to continue our work on the ground in Florida.

-Sara Paterni, ONE Field Organizer

Florida ONE members gathered on Wednesday to celebrate Pembroke Pines officially becoming a “ONE City” united against global poverty and preventable disease.

Pembroke Pines Mayor, Frank Ortis presented the ONE City proclamation to Pines Charter high school teacher and ONE club advisor Danielle DePas, and Pines Charter students Rafael Batista and Andre Riley.

Ms. DePas, Rafael, Andre and others in the ONE club at the Pines Charter High School have made a real commitment to raising awareness about the issues of poverty and global disease. The group meets at least once a month, participates in advocacy activities throughout the community and always strives to keep the Florida elected officials engaged in their work.

The Mayor’s proclamation today underscores the importance of the students’ local advocacy efforts in Pembroke Pines to combat global poverty and disease. By being declared a ONE City, Pembroke Pines joins more than 130 “ONE” cities across the nation in helping raise awareness about extreme global poverty and the simple, effective solutions that can save the lives of millions of people from diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria around the world.

-Sara Paterni

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

With the 111th Congress underway, ONE members across Florida are reaching out to their representatives and senators to remind them of the importance of U.S. leadership in fighting extreme poverty and global disease to help the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. Earlier today I went with Miami ONE volunteer, Paula Diaz to visit her Representative, Kendrick Meek (D-FL-17) at his district office located in Miami Gardens.

While there, we delivered background material on ONE, including information on our local efforts in the 17th Congressional district to increase awareness about extreme poverty and preventable diseases. We also included a formal meeting request letter for the Congressman and are hopeful that we will have the opportunity in the coming weeks to sit down with him face to face to ask him to support continued and increased foreign aid so that we can help the billions of people that are currently living on less than $2 dollars a day.

-Sara Paterni

Last week ONE volunteer Rafael Batista bumped into Florida’s Governor, Charlie Crist while on a college tour in Tallahassee. Rafael, who is also the President of the Pembroke Pines Charter High School ONE Club, took the opportunity to stop Governor Crist for a quick chat about ONE and a photo!

-Sara Paterni

Across Florida you can find ONE supporters in every local community. Just yesterday in a meeting with staff from the Relevant Media Group, ONE discovered that Relevant’s Promotions and Partnerships Coordinator, Chad Pendleton rocks a ONE tattoo!

Chad is a long-time supporter of ONE and stands behind ONE’s commitment to combat global disease and end extreme poverty. The more people I encounter the more confident I am that ONE’s strong volunteer-base is making a difference and showing the world that American’s are uniting to make poverty history.

Thanks Chad for your support!

-Sara Paterni, ONE FL Field Organizer

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

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