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

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

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

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

Below, some photos I took during prep for the event yesterday.

Just like at the DNCC, ONE will partner with WorldVision to host a service project. If you’re in Minneapolis/St. Paul, it’s going to be at CivicFest (the Minneapolis Convention Center) today from 2-5pm in Ballroom B. Confirmed attendees include Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and McCain family and friends.

Like last week’s event, volunteers will be able to help assemble kits for AIDS caregivers around the world, but today volunteers will also be able to help with WorldVision’s recovery efforts around the Gulf in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

If you want to help with Hurricane Gustav recovery as well, you can find more information on World Vison’s website.

I’m heading over to the ONE Bus now. More updates in just a few minutes.

-Virginia Simmons

The event will raise awareness for the issues important to the more than 28,000 ONE supporters in Minnesota and celebrate the leadership that Minnesota’s elected officials have demonstrated on both the state and federal levels.

Governor Tim Pawlenty, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Lutheran Bishop Peter Rogness, ONE member and leader of the Twin Cities ONE Group Rochelle Gibbs are all confirmed to speak. If you would like to join us for this event please RSVP here.

Way to go ONE Minnesota members!

-Libby Crimmings, MN ONE Field Organizer

ONE is also hosting service projects for volunteers at both conventions. As many as 800 volunteers will assemble kits to distribute to caregivers who support people living with AIDS all over the world. In addition, ONE will be hosting panel discussions as each convention to engage and educate people on the issues of extreme poverty and global disease.

For those who live in Denver or Minneapolis, or plan to travel there for the conventions, you can sign up now to help with the caregiver kits at the DNC here and the RNC here. More information about the conventions will follow in the coming days.