Indiana

Busy week for Hoosier ONE-ers

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.

Sen. candidate Coats speaks at a Chamber of Commerce event. Afterward, he told us, “I like what ONE’s doing!”

Starting Sunday, ONE members kicked off a busy week with their U.S. Senate candidates. Dan Coats was in attendance at the annual Lake County Reagan Breakfast in Indiana. We caught up with him before the event and urged him to continue the fight against extreme poverty in Africa if elected, and he told us, “Thanks for what you’re doing. You have a great operation going there.”

ONE members also ran into Brad Ellsworth in Northern Indiana as he toured east Chicago and South Bend — a reminder that ONE is everywhere on the trail! I’m excited to see him at my soon-to-be alma mater Ball State University next week!

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ONE Members at Fall Festival

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 members went to Beech Grove, Indiana this weekend to celebrate the beginning of autumn at the town’s annual Fall Festival Parade, and catch up with US Senate Candidate Dan Coats at Saturday’s parade to remind him ONE and the world’s poorest people.

Along the way, we ran into Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and talked with him about ONE’s efforts to advocate for the world’s poorest people. He told us about some of his friends who do work on the ground in the developing world to help children living in extreme poverty, and gladly took a ONE band from us.

And although it was quite a busy parade, we managed to find Dan Coats and quickly catch up with him. We did not have time to have a long conversation, but he saw our shirts and we slipped him a ONE band – a small representation of the over 2 million Americans who want our country to do all it can to fight extreme poverty and save lives in Africa!

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

-Maddison Klontz, ONE Vote Indiana State Organizer

Pictured above:

(1) ONE Members (Andy Strain & Sam Vazquez) meet with Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard 9/18

(2) ONE Members(Andy Strain & Sam Vazquez) meet with Indiana Senate Candidate Dan Coats 9/18

ONE goes backstage with Maroon 5

ONE volunteers pose with Maroon 5

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.

You could feel the excitement in the air as fans anxiously waited in line to see Maroon 5 perform live in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The band stopped off at the historic Murat Theater to promote their upcoming album “Hands All Over,” and was gracious enough to invite ONE to tag along.

ONE volunteers handing out goodies and signing up new members

Maroon 5 keyboardist Jesse Carmichael greeting ONE supporters in the audience

The volunteers and I set up a table in the lobby so we could talk to people about ONE Vote 2010’s efforts to provide food, clean water and lifesaving vaccines to the world’s poorest.

We handed out more than 400 ONE T-shirts, bands, buttons and pamphlets, and signed up 180 new supporters to join ONE in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease.

In addition to a great turnout and strong fan support, our successful event was made even sweeter — we got a chance to hang out with the band.

When we spoke with the guys -– including lead singer Adam Levine –- we introduced them to ONE Vote’s issues, thanked them for their support and presented them with ONE bands.

With more than 24,000 ONE members in Indiana, the Hoosier State is leading the bipartisan grassroots effort to help those living on less than $1.25 a day.

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

- Maddison Klontz, ONE state organizer, Indiana

ONE attends Karl Rove reception

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.

Maddison Klontz and Karl Rove in Indiana

Last week at a formal reception in Indianapolis, I connected with Karl Rove, former senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to former President George W. Bush.

The reception was hosted at Indiana’s Republican Party Headquarters, in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. Party Chairman Murray Clark, House Minority Leader Brian Bosma and many other political and community leaders were in attendance.

To date, PEPFAR has contributed to providing more than 4 million Africans with HIV/AIDS treatment, up from 50,000 in 2002. A 2009 Stanford University study found the program reduced the number of AIDS-related deaths in some of the poorest parts of Africa by 10 percent.

ONE Vote 2010 will encourage Indiana’s U.S. Senate candidates to continue to support the proven, effective life-saving efforts initiated by Rove and President Bush.

When I introduced myself as a ONE staffer to Rove, he mentioned he had several friends who were strong supporters of ONE, and that he admired ONE’s work to fight extreme poverty. After I thanked Rove for his continuing support and gave him a ONE band, he surprised me with an autographed copy of his book, “Courage and Consequence.” Sounds like a fair trade for a ONE band!

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

- Maddison Klontz, ONE Vote 2010 organizer, Indiana

Indiana ONE volunteers pay a visit to Sen. Lugar’s office

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 members posing with a member of Sen. Lugar’s staff.

Last week, Indiana ONE volunteer Zach Wempler, college organizer Jessica Beckner and I met with Sen. Richard Lugar’s, (R-Ind.), staff to give an update on ONE Vote 2010 and discuss the Global Fund and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).

We were also excited to thank the senator for his commitment to ONE and for championing effective, life-saving programs for the billion people living on less than $1.25 a day.

Sen. Lugar recently sponsored the Global Food Security Act, which enables Africa’s poor farmers to fight hunger, combat extreme poverty and achieve a self-sustaining future by helping them access tools to feed their communities. This bipartisan bill is a critical step toward ending extreme poverty — in fact, the World Bank estimates that growth in the agricultural sector reduces poverty twice as effectively as growth in other sectors.

During our meeting, we spoke with two of the senator’s staffers: State Director Lesley Reser and Sheila Bressler, deputy counsel for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We talked about the Global Fund Replenishment Conference this October and the Fund’s efforts to eliminate HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. We also urged the senator to support a strong U.S. pledge to the Global Fund to ensure no child is born with HIV by 2015.

The ONE Vote 2010 team stressed the importance of GAVI and told the senator to support robust funding in the future for the international immunization and vaccine program.

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

- Maddison Klontz, ONE Vote organizer, Indiana

Indiana Sen. candidate Ellsworth lends an ear to extreme poverty at youth event

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.

Last weekend, ONE members joined Indiana Senate candidate Brad Ellsworth at his Young Professionals event in Indianapolis. ONE members were excited to introduce Ellsworth to the ONE Vote 2010 campaign to fight global poverty and preventable disease.

Between rounds of yard game corn hole, Ellsworth took the time to chat with ONE volunteers and expressed that he was interested in working with ONE on effective ways to provide the 1.4 billion people suffering from extreme poverty with access to food, clean water and life-saving vaccines.

ONE volunteers look forward to engaging Ellsworth on the campaign trail over the next few months. Through Election Day, ONE Vote Indiana will work with candidates on both sides of the aisle to ensure America’s continued leadership in the fight to help the world’s poorest.

Live in Indiana, love ONE? Be sure to connect with other ONE Vote 2010 Indiana members on Facebook and Twitter.

- Maddison Klontz, ONE Vote 2010 organizer, Indiana

Indiana ONE volunteers screen “The Lazarus Effect”

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.

This week, Indianapolis ONE volunteers met at the Irvington Branch Library to discuss ONE’s involvement in the upcoming Indiana elections and watch “The Lazarus Effect.” ONE volunteers openly discussed ways to engage local legislators and demonstrate a presence in the community. After viewing the film, a volunteer born in Zambia gave his personal account of HIV/AIDS treatment effectiveness in Africa.

Since July, more than 1,000 new volunteers have signed up to join ONE Vote 2010 in Indiana. The ONE Vote 2010 team looks forward to hosting similar events that will engage the community in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease.

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

- Maddison Klontz, ONE Vote 2010 organizer, Indiana