Gary White and Matt Damon of water.org just formally announced a new commitment to extend their great work around water and sanitation to Haiti.
Haiti which has suffered several hurricanes recently has had particular trouble bringing clean water to rural communities. Water.org will commit to helping bring water to a minimum of 50,000 people by investing at least 2 million dollars in work with local NGO’s.
We’ll have more on this and President Obama who will be addressing the meeting shortly.
Days before our brand new Voices ad even hits the airwaves for the first time, we’re already overwhelmed by the amount of attention—and press—it’s getting! 85,000+ views on Youtube, shout-outs in dozens of most well-read blogs, numerous mentions in the national press – and thanks to YOU the buzz continues to build.
The Chicago Tribune’s blog Swamp describes the ad as “a remarkable show of Matt Damon channeling the words of the wives of the presidential candidates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg – with the actor’s image playing a ventriloquist’s role for a bipartisan and independent team of voices appealing for help for the world’s poorest.” The Defamer says Matt Damon “makes a convincing first lady.” Democratic Blogging Staple DailyKos describes the ad as “non-partisan tackling of global poverty, hunger and HIV/AIDS”, and Republican powerhouse blog Townhall breaks the news that the ad “will debut on Meet the Press on Sunday.”
To see what all the fuss is about visit www.one.org/voices and be sure to pass along to your friends to help spread our message of ending global poverty.
Below, a small sampling of the ad’s blog coverage so far:
For more than a year, ONE members have been trailing the presidential
candidates asking them to go on the record with their plans to combat global poverty. Now we’re taking our message to the airwaves with this major new TV ad. The spot spot features Matt Damon with different Americans’ voices – among them Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain and Mayor Bloomberg.
Share this online sneak preview with your friends now, and then watch for it on TV nationally starting Sunday, August 24th.
Bloggers from both ends of the political spectrum rarely find agreement on issues. Even more rarely do they sit around a table to brainstorm on ways we can work together. This summer, The ONE Campaign provided the issue and the setting that brought conservative and liberal bloggers to stand together….
Until now, there has been no widespread movement to force this issue into the political agenda of the United States.
Now, we have The ONE Campaign. When people see my white ONE wristband, they usually ask which cause of the day the white band is for. I simply reply “The ONE Campaign is the campaign to make poverty history.” After allowing a moment for the levity of the situation to absorb, I usually throw in, “It’s Bono’s poverty thing.”
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.
