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.

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.

ONE regional field directors, Congressional District leaders and campus leaders were given a very great opportunity to make some loud noise in Washington D.C. on Capitol Hill last week. We were invited to the White House for the White House Leadership Briefing. This was a joint effort with ONE and two other groups: the Truman National Security Project and the American Academy of Pediatrics. In all, we had more than 120 people directly lobbying to their government officials to ensure they do not cut foreign aid and sustain the current budget to keep the health and well-being of the world’s poorest intact. I went as the campus leader to Illinois State University.

On December 8, ONE members made their way to Capitol Hill to speak directly to the members of Congress and senators of their state. I was lucky enough to have a few other Illinois ONE members with me to visit Senator Dick Durbin, Senator Mark Kirk, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Rep. Robert Dold and Rep. Judy Biggert’s offices from Illinois. We were one of 22 other states that were able to use their voice for the world’s poorest to our leaders on Capitol Hill. The meetings lasted a short time, only about 30 minutes, but the majority of leaders are very appreciative and understand the large effect a small amount of aid has. The leaders we met all seem to be very much on board with our cause and the fighting we do to further it; in some places we were known very well. In Mark Kirk’s office, we needed to thank him instead of lobby because he is 100 percent on board with us and we have ONE members coming to his office nearly twice a minth. Our lobbying this time was on three of ONE’s major points: vaccines, AIDS and agriculture.

The next day we were able to do our White House tour of the East Wing, which was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had, and then we made our way to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Here we met and were given talks from Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams, Senior Director for Development and Democracy Gayle Smith, Assistant to the Administrator of USAID Paul Weisenfeld and Deputy Assistant to the President Jon Carson. All the speakers spoke very highly of the work we do for the administration to ensure national security and work toward the end of global poverty. Although all the speakers were great, my personal favorite was Director Williams due to my hope to be in the Peace Corps one day. Again during this day, all the leaders spoke very highly of ONE and our work we do, and it really was a place to directly witness the appreciation that the administration gives us.

We then had a quick break and reconvened with one final speaker of our choice. I chose to listen to Bruce Wharton, the deputy assistant secretary of the State Bureau of African Affairs. Deputy Assistant Wharton spoke to us on the growing issue of the famine in the Horn of Africa, and how aid is trying to get to Somalia but the government is still having difficulties and is looking for other ways to go about getting the aid.

After a great few days in Washington D.C., speaking on behalf of the worlds poorest, national security through the use of foreign aid, and being praised by the administration for the hard work we do to ensure the worlds poorest have a voice, it is not hard to say that ONE did indeed “rock D.C.”

-James Watt, Illinois State University campus leader

A couple of weeks ago, five ONE members let Illinois’ junior senator know that his constituents care about smart and effective programs that are helping people fight disease and lift themselves out of poverty. I had the privilege of visiting Senator Mark Kirk’s Chicago office with some of ONE’s most passionate and knowledgeable volunteers in the city: Kofi Aluka, Susan Eloy de Vitale, Tom McElligott and Richard Smiley.

The five of us met with Matt Abbott, Senator Kirk’s director of global and economic affairs. Matt, having just traveled to the Horn of Africa, understood our urgent push to let world leaders know they need to close the funding gap for aid and keep their long-term promises to the region.

The coming months are critical for the future of foreign aid programs as American lawmakers determine the shape of next year’s budget. If the Senate fails to act, draconian cuts to critical, life-saving programs are likely. For that reason we asked that Senator Kirk work with Congressional leaders to protect funding for programs that really are saving lives — programs like PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations. Finally, we asked that the senator help America keep its promises to the world of supporting food security by ensuring that President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative is fully funded.

It is our hope that Senator Kirk will listen to the voices of his many constituents that care about saving lives and preserving America’s role as a leader in helping 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.

On Saturday, nine of my fellow ONE members and I attended a town hall meeting with Senator Mark Kirk and Rep. Adam Kinzinger in Normal, Illinois. Sen. Kirk and Rep. Kinzinger spoke about the US federal budget and congressional efforts to deal with the current deficit.

As you know, the Senate just rejected the House-passed funding bill that would disproportionately cut US contributions to life-saving international programs. Under the recently passed House bill, 4 million children around the world will not have access to improved nutrition, resulting in stunting and increased child mortality. Millions more will not be vaccinated against life-threatening, yet preventable diseases. So, 5,683 Illinoisans signed the ONE petition opposing these cuts that could cost lives.

After the town hall meeting, Sen. Kirk, a longtime champion of ONE, spoke with our group about the impending cuts to the US Foreign Affairs budget. It was exciting for us to be able to engage our senator face-to-face at such a critical time in the budget process!

We thanked the senator for his record of championing poverty and disease-fighting programs in the House of Representatives and asked him to continue his bipartisan leadership in the Senate on issues affecting people in dire need. We made sure to tell the senator that Illinoisans know we can’t balance the budget on the backs of the world’s poorest people.

We need your help to spread the word! Please urge your senators to protect the proven, effective programs that help support the people who need them the most.

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

This past week, ONE fellow and Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson was at Wheaton College in Illinois, where he participated in a post-election panel discussion with former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and others. Mr. Gerson also spoke at Edman Chapel on campus this morning.

A graduate of Wheaton College and current Hastert Center Fellow, Mr. Gerson is no stranger to campus. We were just there a few weeks ago, where we met with student leaders who were excited to take up the charge to fight extreme poverty across campus with ONE.

Getting to know Mr. Gerson and his passion for beating back global poverty, especially through smart policies like PEPFAR, has been a bit of an inspiration for us at ONE.

Here’s a snippet of his Wheaton chapel address:

“I’ve met nuns in Ethiopia who care for HIV-positive orphans, and a pastor in South Africa who promotes AIDS prevention among sex workers, and a pastor’s wife in Zambia who delivers patients to the hospital by bicycle, and a nurse in Uganda who began paying for the AIDS drugs of patients with her own money. By worldly standards, these are buried lives in remote places. They are actually some of the most powerful representatives of God on earth…

But compassion is also a corporate responsibility, in which all of us have a part. Evangelicals in the 19th century not only helped slaves, they opposed slavery. During the industrial revolution, they not only cared for orphans, they fought against child labor. And the fight against global disease, likewise, is both a personal calling and a national commitment.

My best experience in government was this: I sat in the Oval Office and watched President George W. Bush make the decision to approve the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – PEPFAR – the largest initiative to fight a single disease in human history. And I’ve seen the results. Until five or six years ago, in that orphanage in Ethiopia I mentioned earlier, the sisters could only hold the hands of children as they died. Not a single one survived. Some of the infants were blinded by infections. Some of them, I was told, asked the sisters, ‘Why can’t you come with me where I am going. Why do I have to go alone.’

But then the AIDS drugs started arriving. Now almost no children are dying at that orphanage. I saw infants who had their sight restored. I met children who had come back from the brink of death like Lazarus. It is the closest I have ever come to seeing the miracles of the New Testament. Americans should know about it and be proud of it – and Christians should be the strongest base of support for such works of healing and mercy. It is one public way of showing the image of the God we serve.”