On a sweltering Sunday afternoon in July, ONE volunteers from across the Midwest gathered in St. Louis to “get loud” in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. Taking advantage of the largest event to hit Busch Stadium since the Beatles, ONE members signed up 2,374 new members at U2’s 360 tour.

But this was no ordinary day in the Gateway City. Record heat and humidity brought challenges to even the most experienced volunteers. Despite the obstacles, ONE’s voice just became deafeningly louder. And thanks to the army of men and women proudly displaying their black ONE T-shirts at the stadium, millions of children in Africa will have a better chance of living full and healthy lives as a groundswell of support is voiced for the funding of GAVI (the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations).

Later that evening, U2’s front man and ONE co-founder, Bono, thanked the crowd and the volunteers who have helped put more than five million Africans on life-saving medicines in recent years. It was truly a night that changed the world.

-Joe Mason, regional faith organizer for Springfield, Missouri

What a crazy weekend down here in the Queen City, Missouri! Last week, a group of ONE members met with Senator Roy Blunt’s office to discuss the urgency of continued funding for the Global Fund and PEPFAR, GAVI and global agricultural efforts. We presented him with a petition of around 1,100 names on it, and he said he’d pass it on to Senator Blunt.

Later that week, our group decided to pay Senator Blunt a visit in person at the breakfast he hosted at Missouri’s Republican conference, Lincoln Days.

Senator Blunt walked into the room, shook two or three hands before walking over to us and saying “Oh, I see ONE’s here, we’re gonna get some problems solved.” We thanked the Senator for supporting PEPFAR in the past, and he interrupted to tell us “Thank you for that. I did support it then, when it was unpopular, and I’m going to support it when it’s more popular.”

While Senator Blunt did vote in favor of PEPFAR in 2003 when it was first enacted, he opposed its reauthorization in 2008, citing concerns over implications that PEPFAR funded family planning programs. PEPFAR never funded family planning programs. We believe that Senator Blunt’s comments supporting PEPFAR may reaffirm his commitment to saving lives through this program.

As we continued to talk for three or four minutes, he told us that he sees foreign aid as being important, even in climates when aid is not popular, not just as humanitarian efforts, but for national interests. He reminded us that the one place in the world where President Bush (and by proxy, the US) was popular was in Africa, and that the reason for that was programs like PEPFAR.

He added that he recognized that all programs had to be looked at carefully, but when ONE member and Bread for the World leader Beth DeHaven reminded him that these programs save millions of lives while representing only less than 1 percent of the budget, he said “Well, that is certainly true, isn’t it?” We added that, if the funding was secured, he could count on ONE to do everything we could to ensure it was used responsibly and he said “I believe you.” We took a picture, gave his staffer a ONE band and a copy of Michael Gerson’s op-ed and thanked him for his time and efforts to help save millions of lives in the developing world.

-Eric Mayle, Congressional District leader, Missouri

Yesterday evening, I attended an event hosted by Senator Claire McCaskill here in Kansas City, Missouri, and I was able to speak to the Senator directly one-on-one. Sen. McCaskill said she “knew all about ONE,” accepted my ONE band and even said she has thousands of bands and T-shirts from ONE members all across the state.

I told her that I hoped that she would keep the world’s poorest in mind as the Senate begins budget talks and asked that she push to restore funding cuts by the House to the Global Fund. The senator said that she understood, and made it clear that this was a national security issue as well as a moral one. She thanked me for my work and graciously took this photo with me.

As the event came to a close, I was able to band a few other participants (including a state senator!), and speak to Sen. McCaskill’s Kansas City constituent director. We told her that we had a petition of more than 1,200 signatures from Missourians who care about the effects that these budget cuts could possibly have on the millions who depend on PEPFAR and the Global Fund to receive the lifesaving medicines, bed nets and treatments they need to survive.

I urge all ONE members to call your senators this week and ask them to continue to support these life-saving efforts before it’s too late. We must let them know that they have the support in their state to continue to help the world’s poorest people. I thank Senator McCaskill for her efforts and hope she continues to keep the most vulnerable in mind as she returns to DC.

-Leslie Scott, Congressional District leader, Missouri

The thermostat read in the high 90s when five ONE members from Springfield, Mo., and surrounding areas met with the Senate staff of Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) on Wednesday.

After walking several blocks in the heat, ONE members Mary Martin, Angie Mayle, Michael Carlton, Beth DeHaven and I met with Sen. Bond’s District Office Director Stacy Burks to discuss the Global Food Security Act, the Global Fund and GAVI.

Stacy was very helpful. She informed us that Senator Bond has always been extremely focused on smart power, and guaranteed that he would review the Global Food Security Act and act accordingly on the Lugar-Casey letter.

She also informed us that the foreign operations bill had been marked up last week and that the Senator had seen the success of the Global Fund and immunizations while recently in Southeast Asia, both of which are funded in that bill. She promised to give our message to the senator.

After our meeting with Stacy, wee set out for another three blocks in the heat and showed up about 25 minutes early for our meeting with Sen. McCaskill’s Southwest Missouri Office Leader David Rauch, who graciously met with us when we arrived. Mr. Rauch was also very helpful, explaining that the senator rarely signs colleague letters in order to avoid them losing their meaning, but that he would express our concerns regarding Lugar-Casey to her.

He also explained Sen. McCaskill’s stance on responsible spending, and was pleased to hear that we were expressing our views on the importance of Global Fund and GAVI funding, not simply asking the senator to support additional spending for programs. He said that he would scan our one-pagers and send them to the DC office along with his meeting notes.

While we didn’t get confirmation of support from either office, we definitely had two meetings where we left a positive impression on the staff members, gleaned some crucial insights that will help us back this legislation in the fall, and set the table for a great August recess lobby campaign in Missouri.

Be sure to connect with other ONE Missouri members on ONE’s Midwestern Region Facebook Group.

- Eric Mayle, congressional district leader for Missouri’s 7th district

The crowd included curious parents who wanted to see what their kids were up to, pastors, college students, and community members from several walks of life, with motivations ranging from God to rock and roll, and everyone was touched and inspired by the journey they got to share with the focal individuals in “The Lazarus Effect.” Afterwards we discussed ideas on how to impact the situation. The importance of lobbying congress was discussed and agreed-upon, and discussion of how to recruit new ONE members, including invading First Friday Art Walk was tossed around. Seventeen people signed up to help with lobbying and recruitment, and eight more people took sign-up sheets to recruit their friends.

MO-7 ONE is off to an exciting start, and is full of enthusiastic and talented members who will be making big differences for the world’s poorest people in no time at all.

-Eric Mayle

Alix Gordon and Betsy Skipp are the latest ONE members to host a special screening of “The Lazarus Effect”, the (RED) documentary which shows the transformative effect of life-saving antiretroviral medicine through the stories of HIV+ people in Zambia. A group of more than 30 people gathered at the Wolfsonian Museum in downtown Miami to view the film and learn more about advocacy opportunities with ONE.

Prior to the screening Betsy and Alix spoke to the group about the critical importance of investments in life-saving initiatives like the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The Global Fund not only combats these diseases; it is one of the largest financiers of health systems in the world today. This August we will continue to communicate this message as we meet with the South Florida Members of Congress, including Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who is the Ranking Member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

-Sara Paterni

“Small but might”. That was the theme for my first ONE volunteer effort Tuesday evening at the Daughtry concert at the Sprint Center in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. I met up with Libby, our Regional Field Director, and two other volunteers to spread the word about ONE to excited Daughtry fans. As we were getting ready the band walked by and waved hello to ONE members and thanked us for being there! We were lucky enough to get a picture with the guys before the show and each band member demonstrated his appreciation of ONE and the volunteers for the evening with a big hug for each of us and a sincere thank you for all that ONE does on behalf of the world’s poorest people.

The importance of Daughtry’s support of ONE’s vision was obvious as we began interacting with the concert goers, too. Before long, another several hundred members had eagerly pledged their support, with the majority coming from fellow ONE newbie, Cory.

It was so rewarding to be a part of engaging others in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. It’s proof, once again, that a small group of dedicated individuals can make a difference. If you haven’t joined ONE yet, I definitely recommend looking for a volunteer opportunity in your area. I promise you’ll be hooked. I know I am!

-Leslie Scott, ONE Member

The gentlemen I spoke to at the offices were nice and very interested in what I had to say. I told them that I represented over 24,000 ONE members in Missouri and explained what we do as advocates for the worlds poorest people. I also explained that GAVI has provided 267 immunization for children in developing countries and averted millions of deaths and expressed our hope that our Senators will support this important life-saving alliance by making sure it is robustly funded at $125 Million. We wrote these letters at our ONE workshop in St. Louis and the two senators’ staff were most impressed that we took time out of our day to hand deliver them!

They were very helpful, promised to open all the letters and then forward them to their Washington, DC offices!

I was extremely nervous because it was the first time I had been to the offices of my Senators. It was very exciting and I learned an important lesson; that I do have a voice in these important issues and that my Members of Congress are listening! I have written letters to the Senators before and received a response, but I wasn’t sure that it was doing any good. I didn’t realize that my letters were actually making it to DC, I thought they just made it to a recycle bin somewhere. I realize now that I can make a difference if I am willing to make my voice heard. When I hear people complain about different issues I simply ask them, “Why don’t you do something about it?” Some don’t understand they can do something to help the situation; I was one of those people until yesterday.

In a world of everything online, I think that taking the time to hand deliver these letters had a larger impact than just sending them in the mail. Everyone these days is busy, I am a college student getting ready for finals but it only took me a few minutes to volunteer and be an active advocate for ONE and the world’s poorest people.

From now on if I don’t agree with something, I will make sure my congressional representatives know about it. If I do agree I will make sure to thank them. And next time, I am bringing my friends with me!

-Cheryl Steele, ONE Member St. Louis

Senator Bond’s visit to Webster is a testament to the incredible success Missouri ONE members have had in reaching legislators this past year. Thanks in large part to ONE members’ efforts, Senator Bond and Senator Claire McCaskill both recently cosponsored two critical bills: the Water for the World Act (S. 624) and the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act (S. 1524).

So on Saturday, we gathered in a small auditorium at Webster to celebrate Missouri’s global poverty-fighting achievements, and learn how to make an even greater difference in 2010.

ONE’s regional field director for Missouri, Libby Crimmings, got us started by addressing a common question. “A lot of these things can seem so overwhelming. AIDS, poverty…you wonder, how can I make a difference?” I looked around the room and saw a lot of heads nodding. This is the question members and staff alike get when we’re out there advocating on issues such as disease prevention and treatment, smart agriculture, and maternal and child health. How does one person make a difference?

Libby had the answer. “The thing is, with ONE, it’s not just you. You can get your friends to sign up. Raise awareness in your community. Spread it around and we’re rapidly going to multiply,” she explained.

“It may be easy to ignore one person, say when you show up at a Congressional office. But if you show up with a bunch of people, you’re not going to be ignored. You’ve got your ONE posse behind you and it’s time to have a fist fight with global poverty. That is what this movement is all about.”

The Missouri “posse” is more than 24,000 members strong, including nearly 1,200 students involved in the ONE Campus Challenge. Our group at the Webster workshop was only 30 or so, but we produced dozens of letters to Senators McCaskill and Bond, and talked in-depth about how campaigns such as PEPFAR, ONE Vote ’08, Water for the World, Upgrade Aid, and Liberian Debt Relief have had a huge impact on the issues we care about most.

The ONE Campus Challenge was well-represented at this workshop, with students showing up from St. Louis University and the University of Missouri as well as Webster. We also had non-student members who drove up to two hours to be with us, and a good mix of newer ONE members and those who have been signed up for 3-5 years.

By the end of the workshop, our Missouri posse was feeling fired up and ready for the next throw-down in the budget and appropriations process.

We have other workshops coming up, all over the country. Check out the list here and remember to RSVP.

You can watch a live stream of the event, which begins at 4 PM EST (3 PM CST) here. We’ll post relevant video when it becomes available.

ONE Webster President Kritter Keirnan, Secretary Ellie Curran and I met with Senator Bond’s Foreign Policy Legislative Assistant, Michael DuBois, and Community Liaison Peggy Barnhart. We began by thanking the senator for co-sponsoring the Water for the World Act (S. 624), legislation that will provide 100 million more people with clean drinking water by 2015. When we presented the petitions, Mike DuBois informed us that he had already been reading the S. 1524 legislation and was optimistic that the senator would sign on very soon. He explained that the bill is congruent with the senator’s beliefs regarding smart power and was a complement to the America’s Global Development Capacity Act (S. 355) that he co-sponsored earlier this year.

Senator Bond has been a champion for the extreme poor in the Senate as of late and he recently co-authored a book that discusses smart power and the importance of US foreign aid to developing countries in southeast Asia. We presented his staffers with an invitation from Webster University President Elizabeth Stoble to speak about these ideas on our campus. They were very open to the idea and promised to pass the invitation along to the senator.

ONE Webster is very excited about the outcome of today’s meeting and we hope we will soon be planning an event for Senator Bond to speak at!

-Nick Stevens, Founder and Online Communications Director for ONE Webster