After living in Birmingham, Ala., for 24 years, my husband and I recently moved to Nashville. Quite understandably, it was difficult to leave family, friends and the home where we raised our three now-grown daughters.

Back in action!

Before we even moved to town, the Nashville Welcome Wagon came in the form of an email from local ONE Congressional District Leader Abby Sasser, asking if I’d like to volunteer for ONE at the July U2 concert at Vanderbilt. Having served as Birmingham’s unofficial district leader in ONE’s early years, I had not been very active with ONE since our 2009 Stand Up and Take Action! Hunger Banquet.

A few ONE members from an event I attended

“I’m rusty but willing,” I confessed. Imagine my surprise when I learned that “tabling” for ONE now involves iPads! FUN!

Since July, I’ve attended a ONE workshop with Regional Field Director Ranna Lanagan, visited my representative, Congressman Jim Cooper and volunteered for ONE at the Soundland Festival and Nashville’s AIDS Walk.

The participants at the AIDS Walk were very eager to find out more about ONE, ask if I was a “ONE Mom,” and sign letters to Senators Corker and Alexander asking them to support and protect effective, life-saving programs for the world’s most vulnerable people. The walkers especially enjoyed having their pictures made, boldly showing off their new white ONE bands.

Since July, I have had the privilege of talking to hundreds of people about ONE’s mission to fight hunger, extreme poverty and preventable disease. It’s great to be at “home” with ONE again.

-Elaine VanCleave, ONE volunteer

ONE volunteers from Tennessee met with Congressman Jim Cooper in his Nashville office this week. On behalf of the 21,947 ONE members in Tennessee — almost 5,000 of those in Rep. Cooper’s district — we wanted to thank Rep. Cooper for his past support of funding that protects the world’s poorest people.

As a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, Rep. Cooper can continue to play an important role in building support among his peers for strong international affairs budget the development programs that ONE champions, like global health, agriculture and debt relief.

Rep. Cooper explained that it is tough to get people to support a foreign affairs budget, because most of the general population does not understand what it does and how much we spend. He said there is a misconception that a large chunk of US tax dollars goes to foreign aid, when it is in fact less than 1 percent of the US budget.

We also heard from ONE members who have traveled to Africa and seen firsthand the impact programs funded by the US have on the world’s poorest people. Volunteer Elaine VanCleave told a story about her visit to Zambia where she saw patients treated with antiretroviral medications provided by PEPFAR. Witnessing these programs in action is confirmation that they are working and lives are being saved!

Overall, we felt great about our meeting with Rep. Cooper and will continue to engage him to support smart programs that help the world’s poorest people lift themselves out of poverty and into prosperity. If we use our voices to let the congressman know these issues matter to his constituents, I am confident he will listen.

-Abby Sasser, ONE Congressional District leader for Tennessee’s 5th District

Last Thursday, 22 ONE members gathered together in Nashville to learn how to become better advocates for the world’s poorest people. Both new and veteran volunteers received training from ONE DC staff on effective methods of using their voice to ensure the world’s most vulnerable populations have the support they need to get themselves out of extreme poverty.

Writing letters, making phone calls and signing on to petitions addressed to our representatives are very important tools to let Congress know their constituents care about the world’s poor.

We can save millions of lives if the US and other countries will just make small investments in smart programs that are proven to work.

For instance, we learned about two new vaccines that have the capability to significantly reduce mortality rates due to pneumonia and diarrhea, illnesses which kill more children around the world than tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS combined.

Diseases such as polio have been eradicated because of vaccines — plus they are affordable — so we know they are one of the best buys in global health.

ONE members also learned about the food crisis in the Horn of Africa and how supporting agricultural programs can help prevent these tragedies, while encouraging sustainable economic growth in poorer countries. By allocating the necessary funds to these programs (less than 1 percent of the US budget) we can save millions of lives!

At the end of the training, all 22 members wrote letters to Senator Corker, who serves on the International Affairs committee, thanking him for his past support and asking that he continue to invest in smart programs that fight extreme poverty and preventable disease. It’s so easy — just pick up your pen and do it too!

-Abby Sasser, Congressional District leader for Tennessee’s 5th District

Let’s talk seriously about the solutions to poverty.

Your purchase of a fashionABLE scarf creates sustainable business for women in Africa. That’s our mission, and the reason why is because we are seriously committed to ending “extreme, stupid poverty.” The solutions to poverty do not lie in developing a business model that gives 10 percent of its profits to charity –- the solutions are in developing businesses that do trade with Africa, tying them in to the worldwide economy and giving them manufacturing opportunities.

But don’t get me wrong. Charity is still critical –- there are people in the world that are in desperate need of a “piece of bread,” or medical assistance like the drug neveropene that helps an HIV-positive mother not pass the virus on to her newborn child.

But that is not the sole solution to ending poverty. It also has to do with economics.

Part of our charitable work is providing shoes, uniforms, and school fees for children in need. But when relief is the end game, we create dependents. Instead, relief should support an economic development strategy.

Let’s look at the effects of economic impact of manufacturing scarves in Ethiopia. We:

• Buy looms from local business
• Build a factory, hire contractors, construction workers, buy materials from local business
• Purchase cotton from farmers
• Employ cotton spinners
• Hire trainer for weavers
• Employ weavers
• Hire Accountant
• Hire Business Manager
• Purchase packing materials for shipment from local company
• Ship through local logistics company
• Etc, etc, etc…

All of these steps we take to produce our scarves create jobs along the way. Currently, there are 15 employees in the Ethiopia operations. We are proud to give these employees jobs so that they can provide shoes, uniforms, and school fees for their own children.

And there are great reasons to do trade with Africa. As you have read, the AGOA treaty was created to incentivize trade with Africa, because it eliminates tariffs on certain imports from Africa to the US. The net result for us is a more competitive price point. For example, our $36 scarf would cost $40 if not for AGOA. That may not seem like a lot, but it is critical in the extremely competitive industry of fashion.

So start and support businesses that do trade in Africa, and let’s get serious about the solutions to end poverty.

Here they are:

So, congratulations Kathy, Adam and Mallory — you are our winners! You’ll receive two tickets each. I’ll email you with more info on where you can pick them up.

Fresh off of our victory in stopping cuts to critical programs in the 2011 budget, Tennessee ONE members headed to Washington, D.C., for the ONE Power Summit. During the summit, we visited Capitol Hill to discuss funding for global vaccines and agriculture for next year’s budget. We met both Senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander and visited Rep. Jim Cooper’s office to remind them that more than 22,000 ONE members in the state would like Congress to save the 1 percent of the federal budget that supports life saving programs for the most vulnerable people around the world.

We were particularly excited to share information about two programs we care about — agriculture and vaccines. Investing in agriculture is twice as effective at reducing poverty as growth in other sectors, because it helps farmers increase crop yields and connect to markets more easily, generating sustainable economic growth.

Another area where we can make an immediate impact is with vaccines. Two new vaccines have been developed to fight pneumonia and rotavirus, diseases which kill more children than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. With these new vaccines and proper funding, we can save 4 million more children over the next 5 years.

It’s a tough economic climate out there, but by investing a small amount of money in programs that are proven to be effective, we can make a big difference in the lives of some of the world’s poorest people.

We’ll keep up the engagement with our at home in Tennessee to ensure these programs are fully funded in the FY12 budget.

Senator Corker is on the International Affairs committee and has the potential to be a great ally in this fight. We hope we can gain his support in opposing these cuts which are disproportionately large, about 40 percent, compared to cuts elsewhere in the budget that vary from 10 to 15 percent. Senator Corker has done great work on behalf of the world’s poorest people in the past by co-authoring the Water for the World Act and his personal involvement in Haiti. It is our hope that he will continue on this path of helping the most vulnerable populations around the globe and combat these recent cuts.

The next day, students at Union University, led by Campus Leader Sarah White, delivered petitions and the handwritten letters to Sen. Corker’s Jackson office. Fourteen students tagged along to meet with Senator Corker’s staff, and we were well received. “We know ONE very well -– you’re a very well-respected group!” said one staffer. At both meetings, we presented a petition that had been signed by 1,139 Tennesseans as well the hundreds of handwritten letters asking the Senator to vote no on cuts that would inevitably cost millions of lives. There is still another week before the Senate votes on the budget. Tennesseans — if you haven’t yet, please write Senator Corker and ask him to vote against cuts for the world’s poor.

-Abby Sasser, Congressional District leader for Tennessee’s 5th District

Last night, students and Nashvillians came together to be a voice for the world’s poorest people. We had more than 20 Nashville-area volunteers write dozens of handwritten letters and make phone calls to Senator Corker regarding budget cuts that will invariably effect those around the world who can least afford it. As a student, I loved the opportunity to connect with Nashville ONE and see people who are passionate in the fight to end preventable diseases and extreme poverty.

Sometimes being on campus, I forget that it is not just students who are in this fight, but that we are a part of something so much larger. Meeting with ONE staff members Mike and Robyn and hearing their stories allowed for us students to see the larger implications of our work on campus. I know it resonated just as well with those members of the Nashville community that were in attendance. As we were writing the letters, we felt empowered and honored that our voice could hopefully impact the future of so many people.

Most of us involved in Vanderbilt ONE have had some type of personal contact with these issues. Whether it’s a family member that passed away from AIDS or a summer internship in Africa, these issues are near to our heart. It was wonderful to meet total strangers, yet feel connected and united because of our passion to take a stand and give a voice to the suffering. Do your part and help us reach the new goal of 100,000 signatures on ONE’s petition.

Need to run — we’re meeting with Senator Corker’s staff in Nashville today! Will keep everyone updated as to how it goes!

-Alexandra Flynn, ONE member, Vanderbilt University

On Friday, students at Belmont University joined me for a screening of (RED) & HBO’s documentary, “The Lazarus Effect,” directed by Lance Bangs. Following the film, we held a discussion about the effect HIV/AIDS continues to have across the globe and what is being done to treat it.

For instance, did you know that although we are now able to treat more than 3 million people in Africa, as opposed to 50,000 in 2002, 3,800 people still die on the continent every day from this preventable disease? Though amazing progress has been made in the affordability of the antiretroviral medicine needed to treat HIV/AIDS, and the cost is down to just 40 cents a day from $10,000 a year, for most people in sub-Saharan Africa making an average of $2.00 a day, it is still very expensive.

The good news is though that programs funded by the Global Fund are working hard to make this medicine free to those who need it. Through these programs, people do not have to choose between their health and feeding their children. We even believe that by 2015, no child will be born with HIV due to their efforts — that is, if we can continue to support these valuable programs and give them the funding they need to make this happen.

After the discussion, the students promised to tell at least one of their peers what they had learned during the screening. Through education, we can build an army of ONE to help fight HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases around the world!

-Abby Sasser, ONE congressional district leader Tennesee’s 5th District

The men’s soccer team at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee brought the spirit of ONE onto their playing field last week when they donned ONE shirts during a crucial warm-up session for the quarterfinal game in the TranSouth Conference Tournament. Despite the near-freezing temperatures, the always-professional players managed to not only get their heads in the game, but help raise awareness for the world’s poorest people.

This was a successful first event for Union’s newly formed ONE Campus chapter, which launched this fall. ONE chapter members were on hand in hats and gloves distributing ONE bands and signing up students, all while cheering on their team from the sidelines. The group received a high turnout despite the weather, generating excitement and interest from their fellow fans, all while engaging fellow students about the importance of being advocates for those living on less than $1.25 a day.

Union’s ONE chapter head, Sarah White, was inspired by the energy and interest in this summer’s World Cup in South Africa and felt that partnering with the men’s soccer team would be a good opportunity to help raise ONE’s profile on campus. And with the team attracting players from all over the world -– Bosnia, Serbia, Brazil, Croatia, Scotland, Honduras and Guatemala, to name a few -– White felt the team presented a perfect opportunity to showcase the power of coming together as a team and a campus to advocate on behalf of the world’s poorest.

Visit Union’s new ONE chapter blog and stayed tuned as they begin to establish themselves on campus this year. Congrats Union, can’t wait to see what else you’ve got in store!