After traveling to the Democratic Republic of Congo a few weeks ago, Cindy McCain urges the United States to support the United Nations World Food Programme as it strives to feed more than a million men, women and children in the region.

Read excerpts from her op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal below, and the full piece here.

Since mid-January, more than 250,000 people have been displaced in areas of North and South Kivu provinces due to fighting between the Congolese rebels and the army. The northeastern corner of the country, near the Sudanese border, is even worse off. There the violent militiamen of the Lord’s Resistance Army burn homes, murder civilians and kidnap children to turn them into slaves or child soldiers.

In the northeast region alone, the World Food Programme has launched an emergency operation to feed 154,000 people — a tall order during the rainy season, when roads become deep, mud-filled trenches and even airstrips are turned into quagmires. Of all the aid organizations on the ground, it is the biggest and most diversified. In addition to providing food, it is the lead agency for logistics, delivering vital goods such as medicines, blankets and agricultural tools on behalf of other aid groups….

As the world tries to figure out how to cope with the economic downturn, we Americans are presented with the challenge of giving even more. The price of cornmeal has risen by 35% in the last year, and the World Food Programme faces a 2009 funding shortfall of $77 million for its operations in the eastern Congo.

In 1994, in the city of Goma in eastern Congo, I watched as a Danish nurse attempted to feed a baby who obviously was not going to make it. Tears streamed down her face. I held my composure until I got back to my car and then wept, too. That day, I vowed to do all I can to prevent such needless deaths.

I hope that my country chooses to save lives in the Congo by continuing to support the World Food Programme as it strives to provide more aid to the orphans, the sick, and those torn from their homes.

I just got back from the National Press Club where the Center for Global Development and Foreign Policy Magazine presented ONE with the 6th Annual “Commitment to Development Award.” Senator John McCain, Cindy McCain, Tom Daschle, and others were in attendance to reflect on and celebrate the successes of ONE Vote ’08 this past presidential campaign cycle.

In talking about ONE, Foreign Policy Editor in Chief Moisés Naím noted that “unless one pushes for obvious ideas, they aren’t obvious for many. Now [these issues] are obvious to millions thanks to ONE.”

Mr. Daschle and Mrs. McCain spoke at length about the necessity of bipartisanship in the fight against extreme poverty—a bipartisanship of which they were obvious examples.

But by far the highlight and emphasis of the ceremony were the immeasurable achievements of ONE members and volunteers all across the country—today represented by Danielle DePas, Michael Castaldo, and Matthew McAllister who came to DC to accept the award. All three were invited to sit on a panel discussion with Steve Radelet and ONE’s Liesl Hickey to discuss topics such as grassroots activism, organizing, and how the US can lead in the fight against global poverty and preventable disease.

We’ll have further posts with photos and video from the event for you shortly. You can read more about the award here.

-Chris Scott

Cindy and Rudy were greeted by hundreds of elementary and high school students at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia yesterday. But of course their visit wouldn’t be complete without greetings from the ONE Campaign.

Cindy McCain noticed me in the crowd and crouched down beside me for a picture! “I love your shirt,” she said, “I went to Rwanda with ONE!” It is obvious that her experience stays with her as she travels on the campaign trail.

-Lauren Conn

Cindy and John McCain were just about to leave a rally in Downingtown, PA but stopped when they saw my ONE shirt! They came back around and I gave both of them white wristbands, thanking them for their support. Mrs. McCain commented on how much she enjoyed her trip to Rwanda with ONE this summer and Senator McCain thanked me and all of the ONE volunteers he sees at his rallies across the country for being advocates for the world’s poor.

Every voice in the fight against global poverty really does count, whether you have a national podium or a black and white ONE t-shirt in a crowd.

-Lauren Conn

The short video right before Cindy McCain’s big speech tonight showed an image of Cindy in a ONE shirt and ONE hat!

The photo was taken while Cindy was on ONE’s recent bipartisan trip to Rwanda in July. It includes Senators Frist & Daschle and Democratic strategist John Podesta and was taken while the group was touring the Masaka clinic outside of Kigali, where they talked with doctors, nurses, health officials, and patients about HIV/AIDS treatment in Rwanda.

I was hoping to grab a screen shot of the image straight from the video, but the video doesn’t seem to be online yet. I’ll place the image here when it’s available.

Video of our service project at the RNCC on Tuesday is now up in its full form! (Short highlight clips were posted here earlier.)

Check out the full remarks from ONE CEO David Lane, Zambian AIDS activist Princess Zulu, Senator Bill Frist, M.D., Cindy McCain and First Lady Laura Bush.

Some posts from our service project at the DNCC here and here

I just returned from another phenomenal ONE/World Vision service project. As at the DNCC last week – David Lane and Zambian AIDS activist Princess Zulu introduced the event, but this time we also heard moving remarks from special guests Senator Frist, Cindy McCain and First Lady Laura Bush.

I captured video of Cindy McCain and First Lady Laura Bush’s speeches and quickly uploaded them to YouTube. You can check them out below. We got higher quality video of the speeches as well, but it may take a couple days to get that up – and I want to share this experience with ONE Blog readers ASAP.

First, Cindy McCain:

Next, First Lady Laura Bush. (You can also read her full remarks here.)

Here’s a photo of (from left to right) Cindy McCain, David Lane, First Lady Laura Bush, Princess Zulu and Senator Frist assembling care kits.

In the course of a couple hours we packed 2,500 kits, all with simple but essentials supplies like flashlights, wash clothes and basic drugstore medications, to be given out to AIDS caregivers around the world. Below is a very short video clip to give you a sense of the what it was like to be in room at the height of kit-assembly commotion.

-Virginia Simmons

We knew it was a possibility but now it’s confirmed. Both Cindy McCain and First Lady Laura Bush will be coming by ONE’s service project at the Minneapolis Convention Center today from 2-5 PM CT If you’re in the area, dropped by and help out. It should be an amazing event.

Below, some photos I took during prep for the event yesterday.

Next week ONE debuts our new TV ad nationally, but we’re debuting it to our
members as soon as we possibly can – right now!

Check it out at one.org/voices.

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.

You can learn more about the ad here.

-Virginia Simmons

Yesterday, John McCain was campaigning in Sparks Nevada and as always ONE was there to great him.

On the rope line as Senator McCain entered the town hall he spotted my ONE shirt and pointed it out to his wife. Having just returned from Rwanda with ONE it was a familiar sight. I was able to thank Cindy for traveling with ONE and asked her how the trip went. “Amazing,” she said, “it was fantastic.”

Well it must have stayed on her mind. Prior to introducing her husband, Cindy spoke to the packed high school auditorium about the ONE Campaign and her “incredible journey through Rwanda.” She went on to offer her support for the efforts by ONE to make fighting extreme poverty and disease a foreign policy priority during this election season, and for the many organizations on the ground in Africa “offering hope to mothers and children through selfless aid work and service.”

Mrs. McCain went on to comment about the strength of African families and noted that the key to fighting these dreaded diseases will be to empower African women and mothers.

-Matt Higginson