Minnesota
Recently ONE members in Minnesota gathered at the Gophers stadium to walk around at talk to U2 concertgoers about fighting extreme poverty through advocacy with ONE. Some members were seasoned and some were brand new. All worked hard and had a good experience knowing they were recruiting new members to a campaign we are all very passionate about. After the event I asked a few volunteers if they could share a few thoughts on their experience with me….
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Jan 19th, 2011 5:11 PM UTC
By Field
It’s been a while since I last had the opportunity to see former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty in person. The last time was when he led a bipartisan press conference declaring Minnesota a ONE State during the summer of 2008, committing to help those living in developing countries escape extreme poverty and preventable diseases.
Gov. Pawlenty signs Rochelle’s copy of his book, “Courage to Stand.”
I stopped in to see him yesterday. He is starting a new tour for his book “Courage to Stand” back in Minnesota. I am very pleased to see that he acknowledged the urgency of issues like HIV/AIDS and global poverty in his book, reminding Americans to help care for others using the “gifts God has given.”
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Oct 29th, 2010 6:00 PM UTC
By Field
Last night at the Maroon 5 concert, ONE volunteers from Minneapolis, Minnesota signed up 721 new members — we totally rocked it out! We had a powerhouse of volunteers, and about half were college students, a couple high school students and a handful of our everyday volunteers. We covered the entire Target Center, and not one out of the 5,500 people that attended last night’s concert did not see a ONE volunteer trying to get people to commit their voices to help the world’s poorest people!
Ry Cummings, the opening musician, came up to our table after his performance and thanked us for all the AMAZING work that we have been doing for the world’s poorest people. We then got a sticker on him and a band in his hand and we took a group picture. He thanked us and asked all of the screaming girls that were around us to sign up to fight for the against poverty before getting a picture with him.
Maroon 5 gave us a shout out from stage, telling everyone about how great we were and that we are doing amazing work. We had a great night and really showed how AWESOME ONE Twin Cities volunteers are!
-Steven Thai, regional college director, ONE
Aug 30th, 2010 1:57 PM UTC
By Field
ONE members across the country are using the August recess as an opportunity to meet with their congressional leaders to advocate for the world’s poorest people. So far, ONE members have attended more than 45 meetings with their senators or house representatives. Here’s a compilation of some of last week’s visits:
ONE member Steve with a member of Sen. Nelson’s staff
Meeting at Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson’s Omaha Office
Recently, I met with one of Sen. Ben Nelson’s, (D-Neb.), staff members, Patrick Leahy. After briefly discussing ONE’s history, agenda and the strong membership we have here in Nebraska, we got on to some more urgent matters. I asked that Nelson sign the Lugar-Casey letter in support of the Global Food Security Act and increase funding for GAVI and the Global Fund.
I asked Patrick to relay our thanks to Nelson for his support in these areas. I also told him that we are aware and proud of Nelson’s important position on the appropriations committee and how lucky we are to have him representing Nebraska.
- Steve White, ONE Nebraska
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Jul 20th, 2010 2:17 PM UTC
By Field
Shortly after having our workshop and meet up for “The Lazaurs Effect”, ONE members in Minnesota gathered to learn about malaria. Despite the many things going on in the Twin Cities this weekend, we had a great turn out and 18 members took time out of a beautiful summer afternoon to hear about how they can help eradicate malaria!
I took what I learned from being part of the Malaria Griot Project and presented on what the disease is, it’s impact, history, treatment and prevention methods as well as how people can get involved. Along with this information on malaria, I touched on The Global Fund. Many of our members were interested in learning more about The Global Fund after hearing about it during “The Lazarus Effect” meet up. I told them about the effect The Global Fund has on combatting malaria and how important telling our representatives that we support it will be in the coming months.
We even had an engaging discussion at the end, where several new and familiar faces talked about ways they can help. I had several new faces tell me afterwards that they are looking forward to future events and meeting with our congress-people and senators during the August recess! I am so happy to kick-off my year-long plan for fighting malaria with so much support and enthusiasm from my fellow ONE Twin Cities members!
-Reena Dhake – ONE Twin Cities Congressional District Leader and Malaria Griot
Despite team USA playing in the World Cup at the exact same time, many ONE members in the Twin Cities fought construction and attended the workshop and film screening of “The Lazarus Effect” this Saturday. We had a great group of people who were passionate about fighting global poverty, mostly already active with ONE and other organizations and were hungry for info and to take action!
We gave away some cool ONE stuff like t-shirts, bands and books in addition to some great product (RED) stuff that Starbucks on the University of Minnesota’s campus was kind enough to donate for our amazing volunteers.
In addition to passion there was a lot of personal experience to share. A couple attendees are originally from Kenya & Ethiopia, and one person had lived in Liberia so it was great to hear their experiences and motivations. One man said he was so impressed that a group would spend all day together talking about people living in poverty, on the other side of the world, that they will never meet and trying to help by writing letters to our congress members.
Another attendee has been a student leader for the ONE Campus Challenge for many years and was selected to go on a trip to Kenya last summer with ONE. We watched a short video of the trip and heard about his experience and how it reinforced what he has always been so passionate about.
I can’t say enough about this great group of people, their energy and spirit was amazing. I was supposed to be the one “teaching” that day but I came away even more motivated and inspired. I look forward to fighting the good fight with these awesome volunteers in Minnesota!
Summer is in full swing in Minnesota! And this summer offers more than usual because a ONE workshop and screening of the (RED) movie “The Lazarus Effect” is planned for this Saturday right here in the Twin Cities!
My colleagues in volunteer advocacy and I couldn’t be more excited! We have been busy sending emails, making phone calls, and connecting with local businesses to secure door prizes and help get the word out that Minnesotans can and do make a difference in the lives of those who live in extreme poverty by taking action locally! With support from a number of local businesses the energy leading up to this event has been tremendous.
I’m looking forward to reacquainting with veteran ONE campaigners, meeting new members, and pooling together our like minds and common goals. During the workshop, ONE staff will share valuable resources towards ending extreme poverty and preventable diseases in developing countries and then afterwards, we will be inspi(red) by a special screening.
It will be a great advocacy opportunity with something for everyone! Join us at the workshop and then the screening of The Lazarus Effect.
