Pennsylvania
Today, I joined Pennsylvania ONE members Dan Donmoyer and Sarah King in a meeting with Sen. Arlen Specter’s (D-Pa.) staff in Harrisburg.
Sen. Specter has been a tremendous champion for the Global Fund in their fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as several other legislative priorities for ONE. We made sure to articulate our appreciation and gratitude.
Our group told Sen. Spector’s staff that we wanted the senator to support a strong three-year, $6 billion U.S pledge to the Global Fund at the replenishment conference in October.
We also talked about the Global Food Security Act. Sens. Lugar and Casey are circulating a letter to Senate leadership, asking them to bring the bill to the floor prior to adjourning at the end of the year. The legislation will overhaul U.S. assistance efforts to better address the long-term structural deficiencies that prevent developing nations from attaining self-sufficiency on food production.
We asked the senator’s staff to please urge him to sign the letter. The meeting concluded with everyone in attendance expressing that, once again, Pennsylvania ONE members were looking to Sen. Specter’s leadership and commitment to saving lives in the poorest parts of the world! Please call your senators now!
Live in Pennsylvania, love ONE? Stay connected at ONE’s Mid-Atlantic Region Facebook Group and Twitter.
ONE is hitting the campaign trail to find out where candidates stand on extreme poverty. Stay tuned for more updates like these from our field team and organizers on the road.
Today, I joined ONE members at a rally for Pennsylvania Senate candidate Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.). Rep. Sestak was stuck in Washington, D.C., however, former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) were there to fill in.
Pennsylvania ONE member Amanda Modispaw was able to speak with Clinton and thanked him for saving lives in Africa and Haiti.
She also made sure to mention that more than 40,000 ONE members signed a petition urging world leaders to make good on their pledges to rebuild Haiti. Clinton thanked Amanda and ONE for the support and said that he definitely noticed our ONE T-shirts in the crowd when he was speaking.
I was also able to speak with Sen. Casey about his hard work on global food security issues and informed him that all ONE members were making calls to their senators and urging them to sign on to the Lugar-Casey letter, which asks the Senate to pass the Global Food Security Act.
I thanked Sen. Casey, who was happy to put on a ONE band, but he told me that it was our ONE members who should be thanked for their advocacy efforts. This is only the beginning of ONE Vote 2010 and we’re off to a tremendous start lending our voices for the world’s poorest people.
Live in Pennsylvania? Follow Brian on Twitter or join ONE’s Mid-Atlantic Region Facebook Group.
Aug 10th, 2010 11:40 AM UTC
By Field
ONE members had a blast this weekend at the Daughtry shows in Hershey, Penn., and the Tropicana Showroom in Atlantic City, N.J. As fans arrived at both venues, our ONE teams shared information about ONE’s work in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable, treatable diseases in the world’s poorest countries.
We also got Chris Daughtry himself to retweet us on Twitter: “Very awesome!!! RT @barbiedoll869: @CHRIS_Daughtry ONE team got 482 new members tonight!”
Not only were we able to raise awareness for ONE this weekend, but we also added more than 600 new members! Big thanks to Daughtry and their terrific fans for two great nights!
Live in New Jersey or Pennsylvania? Connect with ONE members in your area on our ONE Mid-Atlantic Region Facebook group.
- Barbra Barrar, ONE congressional district leader for New Jersey’s 1st District
PA ONE Congressional District Leaders Gus Scheidle PA-1 (Rep. Robert Brady) and Nicole Miller PA-13 (Rep. Allyson Schwartz) sent us some quick notes from their recent ONE Member “Meet Ups” and Screenings of RED’s Lazarus Effect in the Philadelphia area!
On Tuesday, June 29, ONE Members from the 1st and 13th PA Congressional Districts met in the Philadelphia area for screenings of “The Lazarus Effect”. The film depicts the immense impact that Antiretroviral drugs can make in the lives of HIV patients as well how inexpensively it can be done. It was easy to be inspired after the film to make calls to both PA Senators Robert Casey (D) and Arlen Specter (D) regarding the Global Fund that helps fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria.
We made sure to convey in our calls that as ONE Members, we are advocating for 1.75 billion in FY 2011 for the Global Fund and once again look to their leadership and commitment to saving lives in the poorest parts of the world. After making calls to both PA Senators we talked about ideas for future events including requesting a meeting with our elected officials during this upcoming August Recess. The film screening was a fantastic way to meet fellow members and see the impact our advocacy can have on others.
Thanks to all who attended in both Districts!
-PA-1 CDL Gus Scheidle and PA-13 CDL Nicole Miller
For the last 4 years Central PA ONE Members have helped raise awareness for ONE at Lebanon Valley College’s Spring Event “Valleyfest”! This year OCC Campus Leader Violet Witter and Brianna Cassel led the tabling effort to sign up new ONE Members. Big thanks to them for braving the rain and cold weather last weekend!
Even though the ONE Campus Challenge has winded down for the year, Violet and Brianna cannot wait to get started in the Fall to earn points and recognition for LVC by participating in different actions and monthly challenges, including advocating for important legislation, educating people on campus about challenges to international development, and raising the visibility of ONE and the issues we champion!
This weekend I was fortunate enough to spend some time with an amazing group of PA ONE Members at our Workshop at Temple Lutheran Church in Havertown, PA! As with the rest of the ONE Advocacy Workshops going on across the country, we enjoyed a a candid conversation about education, awareness, and advocacy for ONE’s issues.
I was extremely impressed with the group during both Breakout Sessions in the workshop! Everyone in attendance was very active and engaged in sharing ideas about how to: recruit ONE Members; influence others; make their voices heard, and spread the word about global poverty and disease.
This group was also very anxious to get involved and take action! Over forty letters were written to Pennsylvania Senators Robert Casey (D) and Arlen Specter (D). They wrote to Senator Specter to thank him for being a true champion of the Global Fund that helps fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria and that as PA ONE Members they would once again be looking to his leadership to help secure 1.75 billion in FY 2011 for the program. According to the report, “The Global Fund 2010: Innovation and Impact,” programs supported by the Global Fund save at least 3,600 lives every day, and have saved an estimated total of 4.9 million lives since the Fund’s creation in 2002. In terms of funding, the Global Fund has approved $19.2 billion in proposals to 144 countries and disbursed $10 billion so far.
The group’s second letter to Senator Casey focused on thanking him for his leadership on S. 384 the Lugar-Casey Global Food Security Act. All of the letters indicated support and appreciation of their Senator’s work on global food security issues. Both letters will be delivered to the Senators’ Philadelphia District offices early next week. This was a terrific workshop! I want to thank Pastor Matt Staniz of Temple Lutheran Church for hosting our event and our Congressional District Leaders Matt Schaeffer, Nicole Miller, and Barb Barrar for their help and leadership throughout the day!
Pennsylvania ONE Members Matt Schaeffer and Nicole Miller share their experiences with ONE and why they feel the desire to raise awareness in their local community!
From Matt:
One of my personal favorite highlights in helping raise awareness for ONE came during ONE Vote ’08. I had the opportunity to address Senator McCain at a town hall event. It was quite a thrill to speak in front of several hundred people in the audience about the importance of ONE!
The most important part of being active with ONE throughout my college career was learning how to convince people to raise awareness about global poverty and disease. Organizing ONE events at Lebanon Valley College taught me many things about conveying an important message in a compelling way. I think we were very successful with the number of people who were impacted at the events and became ONE members. ONE also teaches younger members like myself to be aware of important political issues and the international implications of our lifestyle at home.
I’ve had the opportunity to meet Congressman Tim Holden D-PA and some of the staff from both Senator Casey and Specter. Meeting with your elected officials is very important and gives ONE Members the ability to convey a sense of urgency concerning the dire need of the world’s poorest inhabitants. Leaving those meetings filled me with a sense of pride and responsibility that is hard to come by at a young age. I truly believe that when people become educated and made aware of what is happening every day in the developing world they say “stop it right there…how can we help?” I now live in the Philadelphia area and cannot wait to promote advocacy for ONE in my new surroundings!
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From Nicole:
With ONE I’ve been able to have direct contact with my Senator’s staffs to advocate for an end to global poverty and to thank them for their support so far. In November 2009 I had the opportunity to put a ONE wristband on Senator Arlen Specter during a town hall meeting. The Senator wore the ONE band and we talked about the importance of his co-sponsorship for the Water for the World Act.
In January, I was lucky enough to attend the ONE Campus Challenge’s Power 100 Summit and join fantastic ONE members from all over the country for meetings on Capitol Hill. Our meetings with both Senator Casey and Senator Specter’s offices showed me just how important each of our ONE voices can be. I am very excited about organizing a chapter of ONE Members that will advocate on behalf of the world’s poorest people. In fact, our chapter’s advocacy has already begun by making our voices heard to our respective members of Congress in support of the President’s request for the International Affairs Budget!
