Last week, ONE members from Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia gathered outside the US Capitol Building to attend the official launch of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on HIV/AIDS. Caucus Co-Chairs Representatives Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and James McDermott, D-Wash., hosted the press conference that included an impressive array of speakers involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
What do a mom, a grandmother, a student, an activist, a faith leader, a veteran and an African have in common? We all live in the 8th District of Maryland, and last week I shared with them the wonderful experience of participating in my first in-district meeting with ONE. It couldn’t have been better!
My ONE regional field director Ranna Lanagan and I took advantage of the Congressional August recess to meet with Rep. Donna Edwards of Maryland’s 4th District on behalf of the 4,300 ONE members in her district who care about fighting global poverty and preventable disease.
Rep. Edwards was already familiar with ONE and the fact that less than 1 percent of the US budget goes to life-saving development programs. As she has a strong interest in women’s issues, as well as child and maternal health programs, we discussed how vaccines make a tremendous difference in decreasing infant mortality rates. She understands how wise these investments are for building stronger and safer communities.
ONE is hosting ONE Can ONE Call events all over the country to raise awareness for hunger in both the US and Africa. Find an event near you on our website.
Here’s us with our neighbors
Last Thursday, our generous friends and neighbors came together for just a few moments to make a big dent in hunger. The ONE Can ONE Call event addressed hunger issues both domestically and abroad.
People cleared out their pantries and brought a lot more than just one can for the Manna Food Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Over warm cider and pumpkin cookies, we chatted about the Global Food Security Initiative.
It’s not everyday you can say “I met Bill Clinton!”
Spending six hours in the chilly wind was more than worth the wait yesterday in Baltimore — because I ended up passing a ONE band to the 42nd president of the United States!
Pictured left to right are Mike Fazzino , Genevieve Gearity , Deidree Bennett, Nancy Delgado, and President Clinton.
President Clinton certainly recognized ONE and was forthright, kind and agreed to take a photo with volunteer Nancy Delgado (who had braved the wait with me). As I was lining up the shot, President Clinton asked for my camera and gave it to an aid, insisting all four ONE members be in the picture!
We also gave ONE bands to many others, including Senator Cardin, Rep. Donna Edwards, Rep. Elijah Cummings and Senator Mikulski, who showcased her new ONE band while introducing the former president.
Passing a small white ONE band to a politician is a small way to help remember and recognize the big efforts that our nation is putting forth to help work with the world’s poorest people in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease in Africa.
Yesterday, we were extremely appreciative of President Clinton for making time for ONE, and we celebrate his work as a statesman and advocate for the world’s poor, especially in his efforts to help Haiti and Africa.
What an amazing day for all of us! Go ONE!
-Deidree Bennett, ONE congressional district leader
What an incredible day for ONE at President Obama‘s rally at Bowie State University! A dozen people in ONE shirts and many more sporting ONE stickers got close to the stage after waiting in line for hours and battling the heat.
After the president spoke, ONE congressional district leader Deidree Bennett and ONE member Nancy Delgado had the opportunity to chat with Senator Mikulski, Rep. Hoyer, Rep. Cummings, and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.
Deidree gave them all ONE bands and Nancy was able to grab a photo with Sen. Mikulski and Rep. Hoyer, while advocating for the world’s poorest people. They also had the opportunity to personally thank them for supporting bipartisan U.S. leadership in the fight against global poverty and disease.
Sen. Benjamin Cardin, (D-Md.), is truly a champion for the world’s poorest people. He took the time to meet with several ONE members recently, and we were extremely honored and excited to be able to personally thank him for his leadership in the fight against global poverty and disease.
We started the meeting by thanking the senator for adding his name to the Casey-Lugar letter to the Senate leadership in favor of the Global Food Security Act, his work on the successful passage of the Energy Security Through Transparency (ESTT) Amendment and for his help in creating the African Trade Office in Maryland.
Molly Corbett, Adam Phillips, Brian Sweeney, Christian Ngouyen, Senator Cardin, Nancy Kobel, Tunde Akinseye, Deidree Bennett with Sen. Cardin
Presenting Sen. Cardin with a poster signed by ONE members
Sen. Cardin helped establish the African Trade Office in 2008, which seeks to identify trade and investment opportunities and facilitate partnerships between U.S. and African companies.
The transparency amendment was our biggest topic of the day, and Sen. Cardin spoke about the passing of it in fascinating detail.
We offered our tremendous gratitude for his work on the legislation — which has the ability to greatly reduce corruption in Africa.
Two Maryland residents were present at our meeting. They came over from Africa not too long ago in search of a better education and spoke of how they witnessed firsthand the effects of corruption in their homelands and how appreciative they are for the passing of this amendment.
The senator made a major point that phone calls matter — which clearly demonstrates that our voices are being heard in Washington D.C.
Finally, Senator Cardin expressed support for a three year, $6 billion U.S commitment to the Global Fund ahead of the October replenishment conference.
Before leaving, ONE Regional Field Director Brian Sweeney presented the senator with a framed poster signed by ONE members thanking him for his dedication and leadership in the fight against extreme poverty.
Then, Senator Cardin had a few words to say directly to ONE members. Take a look at the video above.
Way to go ONE!
- Deidree Bennett, ONE congressional district leader for Maryland’s 4th District
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
