Senator Amy Klobuchar has been an active supporter of ONE and during the ONE Vote ‘08 campaign she became our official state co-chair for Minnesota. There are over 38,000 ONE members in Minnesota and the volunteers have done many amazing things in the past.

Check out this letter to the editor that Senator Klobuchar wrote. We are very fortunate for Senator Klobuchar’s ongoing support and are thrilled for this piece.

Excerpts below, full letter here

Of the 1.2 billion people living in poverty around the world, 70 percent are women. According to a 2008 progress report on the Millennium Development Goals , more than 500,000 women in developing countries still die each year from complications of childbirth. These conditions are shameful.

Today, far too many women across the world face oppression and violence simply because of their gender. Too many women are treated as second-class citizens when it comes to their health. And too many young girls are denied the education they need to succeed.

-Libby Crimmings

This morning Joe Leyba, Kathy Stinchfield, and I had a meeting with Congresswoman Betty McCollum’s Chief of Staff, Bill Harper. Mr. Harper is familiar with ONE, which has almost 5,000 members in Minnesota’s fourth district and over 38,000 in Minnesota. We were excited to update him all the great things ONE members have been doing in the Twin Cities as well as around the country!

We thanked Representative McCollum for her ongoing support and leadership in past legislation such as Jubilee, Education for all, PEPFAR, and the Global Child Survival Act. Rep. McCollum will reintroduce later the bill now called ‘Newborn, Child, and Mother Survival Act of 2009’ to the house this coming week, Senator Dodd is also scheduled to introduce it to the Senate.

We also addressed a few policy issues with Mr. Harper for this year’s congress: We encouraged Rep. McCollum to support President Obama’s 2010 Budget requests for International Affairs and continue her active engagement in the reauthorization of the foreign assistance act. ONE also supports the Lugar-Casey ‘Global Food Security’ Act which Rep. McCollum will introduce to the house. We again thanked her for her leadership and committed to help advocate for this bill.

Mr. Harper is extremely knowledgeable on the issues and said Rep. McCollum’s major focuses this year will be on Maternal and child health, reinvesting in Agriculture development as well as elevating development in foreign aid reform. He thanked us for our commitment to fight extreme poverty and support these important issues through grassroots organization.

It was a great meeting and we sincerely appreciate Mr. Harper taking the time to speak with us today!

-Libby Crimmings, Joe Leyba & Kathy Stinchfield

We went to the RESULTS event in St. Paul, MN last Saturday which was held in a church basement. Looking around the room and hearing the energy in people’s voices, we realized that we had never seen so many activists and “do-gooders” in one place before!

We got to learn about RESULTS and hear one of their volunteer’s amazing story. Having lived in Africa and seen social, political and moral injustices first hand, she decided that she wanted to learn more about how she could make a difference and take a step forward towards doing what is right. It was inspiring.

The best part of the event however was hearing the keynote speaker, Congresswoman Betty McCollum, passionately talk about the issues of poverty. We were sitting towards the front of the room and upon seeing our ONE t-shirts she recognized us, saying that she often works with ONE in Washington. She came up to me, put her hand on my shoulder and said “Thanks for being here, I know you guys will help with the maternal health bill that I’m working on in Washington”. Congresswoman McCollum spoke about poverty and how important it was that volunteers are standing up for the voiceless and faceless victims of it all around the world. Betty McCollum talked about some of the successes in the fight against poverty and noted the importance of helping our “neighbors, not just across the street or across the river, but across the ocean”.

We gave Rep. Betty McCollum a ONE wristband and thanked her for her continued support. She thanked us for ONE’s work and said that it was always nice to see ONE volunteers coming out and showing fresh energy in the fight against extreme poverty.

We left the event reassured that our elected leaders care and that with their support we can truly make a difference.

-Tzviatko Chiderov and Reena Dhake, ONE Twin Cities Members

Last week, volunteer Rochelle Gibbs stopped by the office of Senator Klobuchar- our state co-chair- to drop off a packet of info with updates about ONE in Minnesota and across the country. The packet also included a meeting request for local members to discuss the United States commitments on Foreign Aid with the Senator.

Today, Rochelle received a statement from Senator Klobuchar in response to the packet:

I want to thank ONE Campaign members for your tireless efforts to bring attention to the urgent issue of extreme poverty throughout the developing world. As a State Co-Chair in 2008, I had the privilege of meeting some of Minnesota’s 38,000 ONE Campaign members and seeing firsthand your passion and commitment to ending global poverty and fighting preventable disease.

We are a global community and it’s our moral responsibility to speak out whenever we see injustice and suffering. I share your commitment and I look forward to working with President Obama, my colleagues in the Senate and all of you to do everything we can to help achieve this goal.

-Senator Amy Klobuchar

We are excited and encouraged by the Senators words and ongoing support. We look forward to working with her in the coming year!

Also, thank you Rochelle and all of our other amazing volunteers across the country for taking the time to personally stop by our Congress members’ offices to encourage their commitments and support! Keep up the great work!

-Libby Crimmings

Last week, the ONE Twin Cities group joined in on Minnesota’s “African World AIDS Day” or AWAD .

During the event, a large number of African and local community organizations queued up to table and share their domestic and international goals for fighting HIV/AIDS. The groups provided resources, such as free and confidential HIV testing, legal services, and more. The ONE Twin Cities Group was warmly re-welcomed by all at AWAD, and we were pleased to share how ONE works to raise awareness about extreme poverty and preventable diseases. We also talked about how ONE successfully lobbies our elected leaders for universal access to medications. Of special note was ONE members work earlier this year to help reauthorize the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or “PEPFAR.”

After an ethnic lunch, attendees heard experts and survivors share insights about ending HIV/AIDS stigma, and Musicians like Mukamba and Munnah LIB Princess shared their talents. Along with comedy from the AWAD presenters, the event was very uplifting and positive.

I am so energized by the strength and excitement shown by my fellow ONE volunteers who participated in last week’s AWAD event. From the new volunteers to those who have been around for a while now, I can see that all ONE’s volunteers are truly dedicated. Below are the thoughts of the ONE volunteers who participated in Minnesota’s AWAD event. I hope that through their experiences, other ONE members can take away a new perspective, thought, or idea, and that they will consider taking action in their own communities.

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I first attended African World AIDS Day a number of years ago (now in its fifth year) and was very moved with the powerful program and the commitment to prevent HIV/AIDS, end the stigma of those living with the disease, and work to solve the huge number of other problems that are associated with HIV /AIDS.

Through empowering stories, performances, and presentations, HIV/AIDS heroes and expert specialists filled that afternoon with hope, ideas, and recognition of HIV/AIDS in African born Minnesotans and also to friends and family who remain in Africa.

Last year the ONE Twin Cities group tabled at the 4th AWAD event and we were able to share how The ONE Campaign advocates for universal prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in African and other developing countries. In addition to having collected a large number of signatures, the Twin City Volunteer ONE members who participated in the event enjoyed a catered African meal and were treated with performances from Oromo Dancers, accounts from HIV/AIDS survivors recently arrived from Africa, actors, and a speech from keynote speaker and ONE supporter Princess Zulu, who we saw again recently at the Civic Fest event during Republican National Convention. The Twin Cities ONE Group made many new friends on African World AIDS Day 2007 and we are looking forward to seeing them again and developing new friends this year.

The Twin Cities ONE Group will be tabling at African World AIDS Day on December 6th, 2008 at South Senior High School, 3131 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55407. This free event runs from 1-4pm and is open to the public. Further details can be found here.

-Rochelle Gibbs, ONE Member Twin Cities

Libby Crimmings, as you may know is the ONE Campaign’s Regional Field Director in Iowa and Minnesota. She’s done fantastic work around ONE Vote ’08 this election season, and wanted to reflect and share a few thoughts with us:

I came into work yesterday and hardly knew what to do with myself. The unbelievable feeling that the elections are over finally sank in. It seems like the elections have been 90% of what I have thought and talked about for the past year and a half. Now what?! After the initial shock I realized this is only the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

For almost two years thousands of ONE members have been attending almost every political rally, town hall, meet and greet, and other events such as straw polls or steak fries, raising awareness and asking the presidential candidates tough questions about their commitment to the world’s poor. I remember quite a few early events where members drove hours to a town hall event in a small town in Iowa, where it would be a presidential candidate, a pot of coffee and about 5 people. Those were early days where ONE members got a lot of face time with the candidates. Toward the end the events were huge rallies with thousands of people, less face time but more people to talk to about ONE! Somewhere along the line the candidates started wearing bands, recognizing ONE members, pointing them out in crowds, and sometimes letting them speak!

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This week a very special guest came to visit Minnesota from the other side of the globe. Pastor Lawrence Temfwe, the Executive Director of Jubilee Centre in Zambia, along with Jason Filleta of Micah Challenge came to Minnesota to speak out for those who are struggling against global poverty and preventable disease.

The trip started with a meeting, along with 5 other local ONE members, at Congressman Jim Ramstad’s office with Heather Renner, the Director of Communications and Relations. We had lunch with some local members in Minneapolis to answer questions and encourage action. We then had a meeting with Rev. Nancy Maeker of the Minnesota Council of Churches and Acting Director of A Minnesota Without Poverty. Following, a meeting with Kathy Stinchfield, Development Director, Mike Llyod, Executive Director, and Richard Proudfit, Founder, of Kids Against Hunger in New Hope. He also attended a prayer supper in Saint Paul with local faith leaders educate and motivate attendees to practice what they preach, as he has said with local church leaders in Zambia. Jason Filleta talked about Micah Challenge and the resources that they and ONE have including ONE Sunday material, to use to engage their congregation to participate.

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Last Friday we visited with St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. We thanked him for his support in declaring St. Paul a City of ONE during a multi-declaration event for the Twin Cities and the State of Minnesota last month.

We’re very glad to have Mayor Coleman, his staff, and the city of St. Paul join us in our efforts to end extreme poverty!

-Rochelle Gibbs & Kris Jernigan, Twin Cities ONE Members

Recently, Twin Cities ONE members Tzviatko Chiderov and Rochelle Gibbs stopped by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s office to thank him for his support in declaring Minnesota a ‘State of ONE,’ and Minneapolis and St Paul ‘Cities of ONE.’ We had a chance to briefly discuss how local leaders within the community can affect change.

Mayor Rybak was quick to reaffirm his commitment to being a part of the solution and to engage his constituents by offering to speak out. We are also excited to announce that Mayor Rybak has joined Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Norm Coleman in becoming a ONE Ambassador in the great state of Minnesota!

Mayor Rybak indicated that Minneapolis has become an international city of over 100 languages. The “Twin Cities ONE Group” believes that even though we may speak different languages and have different backgrounds, we can all agree on one goal – to put an end to extreme poverty and preventable disease in developing countries by making it a national priority here in the United States.

Thank you Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis for being part of the solution. We appreciate your support!

-Rochelle Gibbs and Tzviatko Chiderov ONE Twin Cities Members