Minnesota
Apr 9th, 2009 5:26 PM UTC
By Field
On Monday, Minneapolis ONE members gathered together to meet with a community representative, Alison Harris, of Congressman Keith Ellison’s District Office. The volunteers represented teachers, students, handypersons, business people, and classical musicians, just a small sampling of the more than 5,400 members of ONE in Minnesota’s 5th district who have a keen interest in eliminating extreme poverty and treating preventable disease in the poorest nations on earth.
Some had been ONE members for only several months and others had been volunteering for several years. They all came together to ask for Congressman Ellison’s support for the President’s budget request of $53.8 billion dollars for the International Affairs account, which funds proven and effective development programs that save lives around the world. In addition the members asked the Congressman to co-sponsor the Newborn, Child and Mother Survival Act, which was introduced by Congresswoman McCollum of Minnesota’s 4th District. The discussion was great and the requests were well received. We appreciate Alison taking the time to meet with us, and we will be sure to stay in touch with Congressman Ellison’s office in the future!
-Nadja Gale, ONE Twin Cities Member
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
Mar 4th, 2009 10:27 AM UTC
By Field
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
Dec 8th, 2008 4:52 PM UTC
By Field
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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Dec 4th, 2008 10:33 AM UTC
By Field
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
