We had a great event for ONE members in Chicago yesterday. A group of all ages and backgrounds gathered at Robert Morris University downtown to hear what ONE is all about, learn of our objectives for the new year, see living proof of smart, effective foreign aid, and find ways to get more involved in their communities.

In fact, almost all of our attendees took several important actions during the hour-long meeting. They wrote letters to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in support of greater transparency, and encouraged the Commission to pass a strong rule requiring companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments for access to their natural resources.

SEE ALSO: US regulators feel pressure to weaken transparency law… and why you should care

In addition, Chicago ONE members participated in a photo petition to urge elected officials to support life-saving, smart, development policies that save lives (pictures on the ONE Great Lakes Region Facebook page). We also wrote cards for Senator Mark Kirk, who is recovering from a stroke, to wish him well.

As we enter an important year for ONE in Chicago, especially with the G8 being in town in May, I am inspired by the active members we have in the city, the support they continue to give ONE, and their readiness to be advocates for the world’s poorest people.

Hours before U2 rocked Chicago’s Soldier Field, ONE volunteers from all over the country made some noise outside of the gates. About 30 ONE members — coming from as far as Alaska and as close as a couple blocks away — gathered in the Windy City to engage the 80,000 attendees of U2′s July 5th concert. Through some old-fashioned pavement-pounding, those volunteers helped the ONE Campaign grow by 2,747 members. We are proud to welcome these new supporters to the community of more than 2.5 million members who can say “I Am ONE.” The volunteers that showed up asked concert goers to sign a petition to government leaders asking them to support the U.S.’s promised funding to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).

With the funding ONE members asked for, GAVI will be able to widely distribute two vaccines against pneumonia and diarrhea, two of the deadliest killers of kids in developing countries. If our elected leaders listen to the voices of the thousands of ONE members who have spoken up, we can help to prevent 4 million child deaths from these diseases by 2015 — and that’s a cause worth making some noise over.

-Jim Watt, ONE member

We presented the Senator 25 handwritten thank-you cards from Illinoisans for his leadership on funding for programs that help the world’s poorest people, including the Global Fund and PEPFAR, along with a ONE poster with the following acknowledgement: “Senator Durbin: Thank you so much for protecting critical life-saving programs in the 2011 budget. Thanks to you, America will continue to save millions of people from extreme poverty and preventable disease, and help African farmers to feed their nations.”

As a ONE team member in the Great Lakes Region, this meeting was a wonderful opportunity to meet with the staff of a Senator with such extensive foreign relations experience. I look forward to the continued collaboration with Senator Durbin and his legislative team on the important issues that ONE is addressing now and in the coming years.

Mr. Kolbe started by speaking about the inevitable cuts we will be making to many different pieces of our upcoming federal budgets. But, in light of those cuts, he told us, “At a time when we’re cutting back on our military commitments, more than ever, we need to make commitments to the non-military side, the development side.”

Mr. Kolbe continued, “I think it’s instructive that the new conservative government in Britain, headed by David Cameron, came into office and their first budget they presented to the Parliament has massive cuts… except for one area, and that was in the international affairs budget, which actually got a significant increase. Wisely, Cameron and the Parliament recognized that at a time they’re cutting their military budget, they have to be willing to increase this side of their budget.”

Mr. Kolbe also made sure to clear the air about how much the US spends on its international affairs budget. After a back-and-forth with the audience about how much people think we spend on international affairs, Mr. Kolbe told us, “Just about one percent of our budget goes to foreign aid. When the American people are told that it is one percent, they’re shocked. They think 20 percent of spending goes to foreign assistance. When they learn it’s one percent, the reaction is, ‘That’s not enough for our international affairs! We need to be spending more.’” It’s clear that Northwestern’s students agreed: After our discussion with Mr. Kolbe, the members of the Political Union overwhelmingly rejected the resolution presented, “the United States can no longer afford to maintain its international leadership through foreign aid.”

One of the most important ways the US can continue its international leadership is by promoting childhood health and disease prevention. New vaccines can help prevent 4 million child deaths by 2015, but only if we commit to supporting their distribution. Speak out now to ask our leaders to fund proven, effective measures that protect children around the world.

Last Sunday, I spoke with a high school youth group from the Fourth Presbyterian Church in downtown Chicago about raising awareness about extreme poverty and preventable disease in Africa.

The students watched “The Lazarus Effect” and then engaged in a group discussion about ONE’s issues. They were particularly struck by the fact that relatively few Americans know about these concerns because they are not regularly included in our newspapers or shown on our nightly news as an emergency situation.

I have high hopes that the Fourth Presbyterian students will work to raise consciousness of the conditions in which many of our global neighbors live and spread a message of hope that we can work together to overcome these struggles.

-Anne-Tyler Morgan, ONE congressional district leader for Illinois’ 7th District

Yesterday, former President Bill Clinton came to Chicago for an event with U.S. senatorial candidate, Alexi Giannoulias and other local candidates. I went out with some ONE members extra early, decked out in our ONE shirts to make sure that they saw ONE and were reminded of our efforts to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease in Africa.

During his speech, President Clinton touched on many subjects and fired up the crowd with stories from his years in office, but he took time during his speech to praise former President Bush’s efforts to save lives from HIV/AIDS in Africa by creating the PEPFAR program. President Clinton went on to remind the crowd that America must continue to lead in the fight against AIDS, poverty and malaria!

Once his speech was over, President Clinton took time to take pictures and shake hands with the crowd. When he got to us ONE members, he grabbed my camera and insisted that all of us got in the photo with him! We thanked the former president for his leadership, and for always making time for the world’s poorest people in his personal work and with ONE members across America.

The election is less than a week away — but we need you and your voice to help make a difference and make sure that no matter who wins the open Illinois Senate seat — Republican or Democrat — that they go to D.C. ready to continue efforts to fight extreme poverty and save lives in the developing world.

Be sure to connect with other ONE Vote 2010 Illinois members on Facebook and Twitter.

-Christopher Shaffer, ONE Vote 2010 organizer, Illinois

Presidential Adviser David Axelrod with Christopher Shaffer

On Friday night, I had the chance to attend a reception for Presidential Adviser David Axelrod. About 100 people packed into O’Brien’s Restaurant in downtown Chicago to hear Mr. Axelrod speak about the upcoming midterm elections, as he promoted the candidacies of some statewide and local candidates.

After Mr. Axelrod’s speech, he stuck around and conversed with the crowd. I managed to get some one-on-one time with him and thanked him for the administration’s commitment to the Global Fund. He told me that the administration is committed to continuing the fight against global poverty and AIDS and happily took a photo with me in my ONE shirt!

I also spoke with a woman named Janet Fisher who happens to be the cousin of Senate candidate Lee Fisher in Ohio. I mentioned how great Lee, and the entire Fisher campaign, has been with ONE members across Ohio as we urge for continued leadership in the U.S. Senate to save lives in highly impoverished countries. She even told me how she had noticed ONE shirts all over “Hardball with Chris Matthews” the other day!

You never know where you will find ONE, or what you can accomplish by using your voice for the world’s poorest people!

Be sure to connect with other ONE Vote 2010 Illinois members on Facebook and Twitter.

-Christopher Shaffer, ONE Vote 2010 organizer, Illinois

Tzviatko, Christopher, Hafsa, Amber and Chris Matthews

You have seen ONE rock the Today Show, but yesterday afternoon, ONE members crowded University of Illinois at Chicago’s campus for a live taping of MSNBC’s “Hardball” with Chris Matthews.

About 50 ONE members were in the crowd of 500 people, holding signs and representing for ONE and our efforts in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease. We were able to catch up with Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, who took a ONE band right before his interview with Chris Matthews.

After the interview, Giannoulias took time to talk with ONE’s congressional district leader Tzviatko Chiderov and me and told us how happy he was to wear the ONE band on national TV!

Tzviatko, Alexi Giannoulias and Christopher

We then gave a ONE band to Chris Matthews who stuck around to talk to students. It was a great time, and great way to lift high ONE’s visibility and work to ensure that the no matter who wins in November, the next senator from Illinois knows that our country can continue to help save millions of lives in the developing world.

Be sure to connect with other ONE Vote 2010 Illinois members on Facebook and Twitter.

-Christopher Shaffer, ONE Vote 2010 organizer, Illinois

ONE members with Rudy Giuliani

Last night in Chicago, I went with a group of ONE members and stood outside of a private event for Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk. Rep. Kirk appeared with Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City and 2008 presidential candidate.

After headlining the event and taking a timeout to strongly endorse Rep. Kirk in an interview, Giuliani got out of his car, saw us standing in our ONE shirts and came right over to talk to us about ONE and our international life-saving mission!

We were able to thank him for his ideas about saving lives, expanding economic opportunities for the poorest people in the world, and for always making time for ONE members along the trail during ONE Vote ’08. Guiliani thanked us for our work and complimented ONE members everywhere.

We look forward to catching up with Rep. Kirk on the trail soon. We want to let him know that through ONE Vote 2010, 60,000 ONE members here in Illinois have made it known that they want their next senator –- whether Republican or Democrat –- to continue America’s life-saving role in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease.

We also wanted to thank him for his efforts in the U.S. House for Aid Reform and the Berman-Kirk International Affairs Budget Letter. Here’s hoping we can catch him on the campaign trail soon!

Be sure to connect with other ONE Vote 2010 Illinois members on Facebook and Twitter.

- Christopher Shaffer, ONE Vote 2010 state organizer, Illinois

Several ONE members recently met with Ms. Clarisol Duque, the Chicago Director for Sen. Richard Durbin, (D-Ill.). She was excited to learn about ONE and commended us on our efforts around the Chicago area.

Sen. Durbin has been a great supporter of ONE for a number of years, a champion for the Global Fund, the Global Food Security Act and other pieces of legislation — making a significant difference through effective programs in Africa.

The senator has traveled to Africa several times within the past decade and has been inspired to act for the millions of people living in extreme poverty and suffering from preventable disease.

We asked for the senator’s support for a strong, three-year, $6 billion U.S. pledge to the Global Fund. In addition, we asked that he sign the Casey-Lugar letter to ensure the the Global Food Security Act gets on the agenda before Congress adjourns. Ms. Duque was happy to see that we cared about these issues and promised to pass the information to the senator.

It makes me proud to see that a senator from my home state is active in standing up for the world’s poor and vulnerable.

- Tzviatko Chiderov, ONE congressional district leader for Illinois’ 10th District