ONE Music Builds Tour
Left to right Jars of Clay members Matt Odmark, Stephen Mason, Dan Haseltine, Jena Lee Nardella (ED of Blood:Water), and Charlie Lowell. Photo by John DiBiase.
On a recent Thursday night in Nashville, I got to see the band Jars of Clay honored for their work serving people in Africa. Jars of Clay received the Gospel Music Channel’s “Gospel Angels Award” during the 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards. The night before, Jars performed at Nashville 4 Africa, a fundraiser for the African Children’s Choir with Big Kenny, Faith Hill, Third Day, Keith Urban and others. Jars also scored the original music for the film Sons of Lwala.
Jars’ members’ have been long time ONE supporters and the band was part of the ONE Music Builds tour last year. A big part of Jar’s efforts happen through the organization they founded Blood:Water Mission – a ONE partner. Through this non-profit organization launched in 2001, Jars of Clay has funded more than 650 water projects, along with hygiene and sanitation training, in 11 African countries. These projects have connected more than 500,000 people with clean water since its inception and the band is on track to build its 1000th clean water well, in early 2010.
The Blood:Water Mission site has the full scoop. Congratulations to Jars of Clay and Blood:Water Mission. Well done. Well deserved.
-Mark Brinkmoeller
The Music Builds Tour ended in Denver CO on Sunday night, and it ended with a bang. We had 14 volunteers attend and we were able to sign up more than 450 new members of ONE.
Big thanks to Switchfoot, Robert Randolph, Third Day, and Jars of Clay for their support and kind words from the stage. Many of their fans found us after or during the show to sign the declaration and learn more because of the endorsement from their favorite band.
Throughout the tour we have had the opportunity to meet literally thousands of new faces, all of whom were shocked to hear about how diseases like malaria and tuberculosis are killing millions in Africa. Now they are eager to hold our elected leaders accountable for the promises America has made to help eradicate these diseases everywhere.
-Matthew Higginson
Check out this great post from Dawn Shelton in Oklahoma City who recently had a chance to volunteer at a Music Builds Tour stop– and brought her family along for the ride! There are only 3 stops left on the tour – tonight in Minneapolis, tomorrow in Kansas City, and Sunday in Denver – so sign up to volunteer now!
-Chris Scott
It’s one thing to wear the ONE bracelet. It’s quite another to approach strangers at a concert and talk to them about ONE and the campaign to end global poverty. But we did it last night, all five of us, mom, dad and our 11, 9 and 6 year old kids! Admittedly, I got the “eye roll” from my husband, Stan, when I excitedly told him, “Hey, we’ve been invited to volunteer for ONE at the Music Builds concert.” You know, invited through one of those ONE emails from Josh Peck that always make me think he’s writing JUST to me (One to One). But Stan went along with it, partly because he knows our kids LOVE Jars of Clay and Switchfoot and his wife LOVES Third Day. And because we all support the ONE campaign. So we signed up, and showed up! ONE sent us talking points for the night, and we all practiced what we might say.
Talking point: “ONE is a grassroots effort to make poverty history.” (Do you kids know what grassroots is?)
Talking point: “ONE gets us all involved to stop children from going hungry.” (Discussion about how full our pantry and freezer are full at our house, even with those vegetables the kids don’t like, and how many families around the world, and even in our own city, barely survive on rice and potato soup).
Talking point: “ONE helps let everyone know that people don’t have to die from diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS if they have proper medical care.” (Then an age-appropriate explanation of AIDS).
We got to the concert early, got our t-shirts (Thanks ONE!), met the other volunteers who were all way cool and hip and got a brief training from the ONE staffers Libby and Michele who were also way cool and hip. Then we armed ourselves with clipboards, ONE bands, flyers and let the excitement build for the doors to open. Our kids secretly hoped that some of the Switchfoot guys would come to our table … but they tried to remain focused.
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Sep 29th, 2008 4:37 PM UTC
By Field
Last week at the ONE Music Builds Tour stop in Phoenix, Arizona, local ONE volunteers came out in full force to talk about the ONE Campaign and our efforts to raise awareness about global health and extreme poverty.
The Tour, which featured outstanding performances from Third Day, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Switchfoot and Jars of Clay, brought thousands of energized fans to the Dodge Theatre in downtown Phoenix.
Armed with clipboards, ONE pamphlets and our signature white ONE wristbands, ONE volunteers set out to inform and sign up the excited crowd. Collectively we were able to get more than 300 concert-goers to sign the ONE Declaration.
Stay tuned for more from the Music Builds Tour, which continues this week with a concert on October 2nd in Dallas, Texas!
-Sara Paterni, FL ONE Field Organizer
I wanted to share this great interview the Cleveland Plain Dealer conducted with Third Day. As many of you know, Third Day is one of the bands hitting the road with ONE’s Music Builds Tour this year along with Switchfoot, Jars of Clay, and Robert Randolph and the Family Band. Find out when the Music Builds Tour is coming to your town here and remember to check back for more updates!
Excerpt below, full interview here
Q: The Music Builds Tour isn’t just about entertainment. How important is the philanthropic aspect?
A: All the bands feel like we have this platform we’ve been given. There’s a responsibility in that.
There was a famous sports star in the past 10 years, probably 15 years now. He said he didn’t want to be put on a pedestal. He didn’t want anyone to be affected by what he said or did. He just wanted to play sports, and that was the end of it.
But for us, we really welcome that platform. We welcome those questions [from] our fans, of what’s important to you and what interests you in the world.
For us to be able to have a small part in encouraging people . . . to do something about their faith and to do something about the position we’ve all been put in to help others is a key component of life.
-Chris Scott
Last week, as the ONE Music Builds Tour continued its travels across the country, we stopped in Chicago where the bands Switchfoot, Third Day, Jars of Clay and Robert Randolph and the Family Band supplied thousands of concert-goers with rockin’ tunes and the opportunity to learn about ONE.
An enthusiastic group of 13 volunteers showed up to work the ONE booth to spread the word about ONE’s mission to make poverty history and to recruit new outstanding volunteers like themselves. Armed with clipboards, ONE pamphlets and pockets filled with our signature white ONE wristbands, they set out to inform and sign-up the excited crowd.
Despite the periodic threat of rain, we were able to get nearly 500 people to sign the ONE Declaration, hundreds of which indicated they would be willing to volunteer in the future. By the end of the night, you couldn’t look left or right and not see one of our ONE wristbands on someone’s wrist. We succeeded in spreading awareness of ONE and we had a lot of fun doing it!
Be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for a Music Builds Tour stop near you!
-Christopher Berg, ONE Field Coordinator
Click here to find out where we’ll be next!
The 23-city ONE Music Builds tour kicked off in Detroit on August 21 with tons of excited fans showing up to see their favorite bands, have some fun, and learn about great organizations like Habitat for Humanity and ONE! ONE staff and volunteers showed up to help recruit new members to the campaign and found the crowd to be very receptive especially when three ONE video clips were screened throughout the evening explaining ONE’s mission and how everyday Americans can get involved in the fight against extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.
The tour continues next week with a concert on September 11th in Cleveland, Ohio, where we expect to continue recruiting new ONE members! Also, we still need ONE volunteers at some of the tour stops. If you’d like to help out, sign up here!
-Kim Smith, ONE Deputy Field Director
