Last week, Miami Beach officially became “ONE City,” a declaration that the city is united against global poverty and preventable disease!
Recognizing years of hard work by Miami ONE members — including congressional district leaders Alix Gordon, Betsy Skipp and Danielle DePas — Mayor Matti Herrera Bower issued an official proclamation, underscoring the importance of local advocacy efforts to fight poverty, save lives from disease, put children in school and increase opportunities in poor countries around the world, particularly in Africa.
By being declared a ONE City, Miami Beach joins more than 130 ONE Cities across the nation in helping raise awareness about simple, effective solutions that can save the lives of millions of people.
In just the last several years, America’s global poverty-fighting and disease-fighting efforts have delivered historic results, and we thank Mayor Herrera Bower for recognizing the important role Miami Beach citizens play in the global economy and community.
Yesterday, Philadelphia became a ONE City. Below is video from the event and comments from Pastor and ONE member Matt Staniz.
Today, Philadelphia once again lives up to its name by placing the name of our city side by side with ONE, an advocacy organization of more than 2 million strong committed members to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. ONE is a vital movement in the world today. It reflects the type of love that we must have for each other: a love that is reflected in justice, equality, and action. This is Philadelphia-style “brotherly love” at its finest!
I want thank Deesha Dyer and the PA ONE members she worked with for making this day possible. Every letter, every phone call, every ounce of effort and every second of time that you gave has produced results. Thank you. Everything that begins today, begins because of you.
And thank you to Mayor Michael A. Nutter for hearing Deesha and the PA ONE members. It really is a natural fit. Thank you, Mister Mayor, for declaring the city of Philadelphia a ONE city . It was just a few blocks east of this building on Independence Mall where ONE was launched in 2004. A year later, it was few blocks up the Benjamin Franklin parkway where over a million of us gathered for “Live 8″ and raised our voices to “make poverty history”. Philadelphia has been at the heart of this movement. Today we proudly celebrate that this movement reflects the heart of Philadelphia.
This declaration reflects visionary leadership rooted in hope for a future shaped by action today. As we celebrate this commitment to fight extreme poverty, Mister Mayor, we also look forward to working together to keep these promises being made today to our poorest sisters and brothers around the world. I am also convinced that as we make these commitments to the poor around the world, it will also guide our continued efforts to care for our friends and neighbors right here in the city of brotherly love. Raising a voice on behalf of the poor is how faith creates action, it is how compassion creates justice, it is how concern creates change.
Today we stand together as ONE. We stand as ONE with the poor. We stand as ONE with the billion people trying to survive on less than two dollars a day. We stand as ONE with the thousands who are dying of preventable and treatable diseases. We stand as ONE with millions of people committed to changing these realities. Today we stand together as ONE Philadelphia.
We are the city of brotherly love, and we are a ONE city! Thank you.
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