Move over Washington University! You may have had vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden in St. Louis for the debate, but ONE Webster had the ONE Campaign Tour Bus! Sporting a giant ONE logo and blasting great music, the ONE Campaign tour bus attracted students as we tabled throughout the day to promote our vice presidential debate watch party that evening.

Not only did we have the bus, but former Missouri Governor Bob Holden put on a pre-debate analysis with a panel of experts from universities across St. Louis. We packed Webster’s Sunnen Lounge with 170 people. After the chairs ran out, people piled in around the sides and back.

I figured the current economic crisis would dominate the debate, but I wanted [ONE to be there to] make sure everyone remembered those who have been living in an economic crisis their entire lives.

Thank you to all of the ONE Webster volunteers and our co-sponsors: Holden Public Policy Forum, Webster Rock the Vote, College Republicans and College Democrats.

-Nick Stevens, ONE Webster President and OCC COA

The ONE bus rolled onto the campus of George Washington University on a crisp morning last Thursday, September 18th. With the bus parked on a highly trafficked street between GW dormitories and the Lerner Auditorium, a day of recruiting for the ONE Campaign began!

The GW ONE campus chapter was out in full force, supplying energetic volunteers and free pizza to entice passersby to step up to the table. Students handed out wristbands, water bottles, and leaflets encouraging people to join ONE in fighting to make global poverty a top priority in the upcoming election. From GW students and faculty, to campus police and local coffee vendors, the response was huge. Nearly 600 people signed the ONE Declaration and put on a white wristband for the first time!

-Paige Engebretson, ONE Intern

For the weekend of September 20th and 21st the ONE Bus took the Big Apple by storm! New York City was hosting a week of meetings surrounding the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and ONE decided to get a head start on the meetings and hit the streets to get the word out about the fight for the world’s poorest people.

On Saturday we were on Fifth Avenue and 58th street and on Sunday we were right on Broadway and 52nd Street- both proved to be great locations with lots of people to talk with about ONE and the MDG’s.

-Kim Smith

On September 19th the ONE bus rolled onto the historic College of William & Mary to get their students more involved in the fight against extreme poverty around the world! Lauren Conn our PA Field Organizer is an alumnus and hooked us up with the campus Rotaract club who sponsored our visit.

It was a beautiful day and the bus set up shop right in the middle of campus to recruit new members to ONE as students made their way to class. We had tons of volunteers come out to help us man the bus while we blasted music, gave out ONE stuff and let students know what they could do to help in the fight for the world’s poorest people. All in all it was a great stop for the bus where we recruited 220 new members to ONE in two hours- not bad for a lunch break!

-Megan Schweizer, ONE Bus Staff

New Hampshire ONE members were up early on Saturday as Sen. Obama held a rally in Veterans Park in Manchester.

I ran into some ONE members that were in the front of the line a little before 7am for an event that wouldn’t begin until 10:30am. The ONE Bus was there too, and we parked around the corner from the park to talk with people about ONE and US efforts to save lives in the poorest countries on Earth. Many ONE members made it out in their ONE shirts and even more were excited to see the ONE Bus, gladly taking ONE bands and ONE literature with them.

There were over 8,000 people in the crowd and I was not able to get close but I received a text message from ONE member, Tucker Jadczak who was up front, saying that a few ONE members made it on stage with Sen. Obama in their ONE shirts! Even more ONE members called to tell me that they saw the ONE shirts on stage. Looking out in the crowd you could see black ONE shirts everywhere!

As the event ended, I ran into blogger Chaz Proulx and NH Rep. Carol Shea-Porter. I spoke with her about ONE and her support of the AIDS-fighting PEPFAR legislation in the US House and snapped a quick photo for the ONE bog. Then we took off for another ONE event at Brandeis University with the ONE Bus.

It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent. Your voice can help fight global AIDS and extreme poverty, and people everywhere are realizing the power of ONE!

-Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer

The UNH for ONE student group at the University of New Hampshire held a rally yesterday with our giant ONE Bus on campus in Durham. Over 400 students came out and joined ONE in the fight against global disease and extreme poverty!

UNH for ONE President Rachel Cope taped a brief message during all the action

ONE members everywhere are working with their campuses, co-workers, and communities to make sure our leaders are taking urgent action to help save millions of lives around the world. Keep it up, and you never know where you will find the ONE Bus next!

Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer

Sen. Obama was in New Hampshire this weekend and so was our giant ONE Bus! We met up with him Friday night in Concord, NH at a campaign rally.

Although it was raining, we spoke with many people in line about ONE and our non-partisan effort to fight AIDS and extreme poverty in the developing world. Almost everyone had heard or seen ONE through the NH Primary and our new ad.

Before Sen. Obama came out, NH Rep. Paul Hodes made his way through the crowd and we were able to thank him for voting for the new global AIDS bill, PEPFAR, that smashed its way through the US House with great bi-partisan support.

Sen. Obama finally made his way to the stage and gave his stump speech. He could clearly see our ONE shirts and ONE bands throughout the crowd. Afterward, he shook hands and we were able to briefly thank him for voting for PEPFAR and for talking about PEPFAR at the Service Forum in NYC the night before. You can see a quick clip of him with us in the crowd here:

We were not able to give Sen. Obama a ONE band, but his aide, Reggie Love, came back and grabbed one for him. And as we were leaving, Sen. Obama’s bus pulled away and he our ONE bus a big wave!

-Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer

On Saturday, the ONE Bus headed south to Waltham, MA, to Brandeis University to hold an event with students and their global poverty fighting group called Positive Foundations. Group leaders Allyson and Aka were there to welcome the ONE Bus on campus and we set up shop, explaining ONE to students and signing people up to help add voices in the fight against global disease and extreme poverty.

Hundreds of new people signed up at Brandeis, and stay tuned to the ONE blog for more events and activities with the ONE Bus. You never know what campus or political event the ONE Bus will be at next, but it is a great way to help raise the profile for ONE and the world’s poorest people!

-Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer

The ONE Bus made a triumphant entrance in Reading, PA Wednesday as it pulled directly onto the quad of Alvernia College campus! The Bus was greeted with enthused students and faculty who stopped class to check out the excitement. Three hundred and eighty-seven students signed up to become ONE members– about one fifth of the entire student body at Alvernia!

After seemingly endless thunderstorms the previous day, there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky and the sun shown all day for the Bus’s appearance in Reading. The president of Alvernia College, Dr. Thomas Flynn, came out to thank ONE for visiting the campus and to commend the students for their activism.

Despite its size, Alvernia is one of the Power 100 of all the colleges and universities competing in the ONE Campus Challenge.

-Lauren Conn

Yesterday the ONE Bus came to Lebanon Valley College to raise awareness among the student body about global poverty. Despite early morning thunderstorms, the visit was a huge success.

Events for the day included a concert by LVC’s own Double Entendre, a recognition proclamation issued by representatives from the student government, and an appearance by the LVC mascot, “The Dutchman”. The Dutchman brought out cheers as he donned a ONE wristband and showed off for the campaign.

In addition to the concert, LCV ONE volunteers set up a table along our main street and signed up 300 new students! Among those new members, many were interested in founding a ONE club at our school. In future weeks we hope to not only create that LVC club, but to declare LCV a “Campus of ONE”

-Matthew Schaeffer, LVC Student Organizer