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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
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”
Tonight we urged all of our ONE Delegates to wear their ONE gear to the convention floor. Below, some pics from the night. Let us know if you spotted any of the ONE shirts on TV?
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
