Illinois

ONE fellow Michael Gerson at Wheaton College

Nov 12th, 2010 4:35 PM UTC
By Adam Phillips

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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:

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Front row seats at President Obama’s Chicago homecoming

President Barack Obama came home to Chicago last weekend for a rally and ONE was there, too. Several of us were lucky enough to get spots in the front row to make sure that the president and Illinois Democratic candidates could see us and keep the world’s poor on their political agenda. The event felt almost like a concert, with a rock band and hip-hop artist Common warming us up before the President spoke.

After his speech, Obama walked to meet people at the front. He shook my hand, and I thanked him for fighting for the world’s poor and gave him a ONE wristband. It was a brief interaction and the President said “thank you” as he continued down the line of thousands of people awaiting their chance to meet our country’s leader. Illinois Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias also stopped by our ONE group after addressing the crowd. We shook hands and I gave him a ONE wristband, which he put on right away!

It was a fun event, and we spoke to many of our fellow Chicagoans standing next to us. They were happy to learn about ONE and proudly wore their wristbands through the night.

-Tzviatko Chiderov, ONE congressional district leader, Illinois

Bill Clinton comes to Chicago

ONE is hitting the campaign trail to find out where candidates stand on extreme poverty. Stay tuned for more updates like these from our field team and organizers on the road.

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!

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Catching up with David Axelrod in Chicago

ONE is hitting the campaign trail to find out where candidates stand on extreme poverty. Stay tuned for more updates like these from our field team and organizers on the road.

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

ONE Bands Alexi Giannoulias and Chris Matthews at UIC

ONE is hitting the campaign trail to find out where candidates stand on extreme poverty. Stay tuned for more updates like these from our field team and organizers on the road.

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

Alexi Giannoulias Almost Gets Banded…Again!

ONE is hitting the campaign trail to find out where candidates stand on extreme poverty. Stay tuned for more updates like these from our field team and organizers on the road.

ONE member, Alex Blumenberg, and I were able to catch up to Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias outside an event yesterday. We spoke with Giannoulias about supporting the Global Fund and becoming a champion on behalf of the world’s poorest. I offered him a band and he joked “I have like 10 of these. I still wear it when I play basketball. It wouldn’t be fair to take it from you.” He politely took a picture with us and promised if he gets to the Senate, he will fight for the world’s poorest citizens and continue to help efforts to improve the plights of millions of people around the 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 get a thumbs up from Vice President Biden

ONE is hitting the campaign trail to find out where candidates stand on extreme poverty. Stay tuned for more updates like these from our field team and organizers on the road.

Yesterday, some ONE members and I attended an event for Governor Pat Quinn with Vice President Joe Biden. We crowded into a packed gymnasium, decked out in our ONE shirts and did our best to get up to greet the vice president.

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