DAUGHTRY

At the Daughtry concert in Kansas City

“Small but might”. That was the theme for my first ONE volunteer effort Tuesday evening at the Daughtry concert at the Sprint Center in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. I met up with Libby, our Regional Field Director, and two other volunteers to spread the word about ONE to excited Daughtry fans. As we were getting ready the band walked by and waved hello to ONE members and thanked us for being there! We were lucky enough to get a picture with the guys before the show and each band member demonstrated his appreciation of ONE and the volunteers for the evening with a big hug for each of us and a sincere thank you for all that ONE does on behalf of the world’s poorest people.

The importance of Daughtry’s support of ONE’s vision was obvious as we began interacting with the concert goers, too. Before long, another several hundred members had eagerly pledged their support, with the majority coming from fellow ONE newbie, Cory.

It was so rewarding to be a part of engaging others in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. It’s proof, once again, that a small group of dedicated individuals can make a difference. If you haven’t joined ONE yet, I definitely recommend looking for a volunteer opportunity in your area. I promise you’ll be hooked. I know I am!

-Leslie Scott, ONE Member

An Evening Event for ONE

Just like at the Democratic convention last week, the RIAA will be hosting an event to celebrate ONE at the Republican convention tonight.

This time around the band DAUGHTRY will be playing and once again we’re expecting some influential members of the Party and media to attend.

We hope tonight’s event will build upon the work we’ve already done to bring the issue of global poverty to the forefront of this convention.

1,500 Kits in Record Time

Tons of people came and we finished all the kits in record time. We had 3 hours to assemble 1,500 kits – but it was all done in just one hour.

During that time, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle came by to help out, as did the band DAUGHTRY. We should have video of all that by tomorrow.

‘Til then, I’ll just have to apologize sheepishly for this very amateur camera-work. It does give you a sense of the atmosphere in the room.

An Email From Chris

This morning Chris Daughtry of the band DAUGHTRY sent an email to all of our new Idol-watching members.

In it, he asked our new poverty-fighters to take their first action by urging the Senate to increase global AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis funding (by supporting the reauthorization of PEPFAR.)

See his email below. And sign the petition if you haven’t already.

Dear ONE Member,

My DAUGHTRY bandmates, Joey Barnes and Josh Steely, and I recently took a break from our tour to visit Kampala, Uganda. It was our first trip to Africa, and it was absolutely amazing.

It’s hard to put in words everything that we saw. We were inspired by the incredible spirit of the people we met—especially of the children—and struggled with the suffering that is part of the day-to-day life for so many.

But it’s not hard to take action. ONE is launching a petition campaign to tell our senators that we want them to support record increases in funding to treat and prevent the spread of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Please sign ONE’s petition and ask your senators to join us in the fight against these deadly, but treatable diseases.

http://www.one.org/pepfarsenate

It’s pretty cool to know that the lifesaving antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) that were given out at the clinic we visited are paid for by a program that we are asking our elected officials in Washington to support.

That program is called the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR and, since it was launched in 2004, it has saved millions of lives.

There are a lot of incredible success stories that come from American leadership against AIDS and I hope you’ll check out ONE.org to learn more. For now, I’m only going to throw one stat at you: 1.4 million. That’s the number of people who are on PEPFAR-funded ARVs today across the developing world.

But there is so much more we can do.

That’s why ONE is asking the Senate to increase investments in treatments and prevention strategies that work, from the $15 billion spent during the last five years to $50 billion for the next five.

The toughest moment for us on this trip came when we visited the home of an 18 year-old woman named Jacqueline, who is HIV positive and suffers from TB. Like so many people in Uganda, she is now taking antiretroviral drugs and medicine for her TB, but the side effects have left her unable to work.

This new funding expands the fight with programs that provide microloans and food aid for people in her dire situation.

Ask your senators show their support for American leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS by co-sponsoring this PEPFAR reauthorization.

http://www.one.org/pepfarsenate

If we can get this thing through the Senate, we’ll be that much closer to preventing millions of new cases of HIV/AIDS, giving AIDS widows and orphans a better future and stopping killers like malaria and TB.

Last night on Idol Gives Back, we played a song called What About Now. The title says it all. There is so much we can do now right now. That’s why it’s an honor for all of us in DAUGHTRY to be a part of ONE, this movement of millions of Americans all working together to save lives and change the world.

From all of us in DAUGHTRY.

Thanks,

Chris Daughtry, ONE Member

DAUGHTRY

They’re now showing footage from DAUGHTRY’s recent trip to Uganda. You may notice Chris and his band wearing ONE shirts. All of the members of the DAUGHTRY band have been incredible advocates for ONE and the fight to end global poverty.

Below is some brand new footage of DAUGHTRY talking about their time in Uganda and the ONE Campaign.

-Virginia Simmons

Ellen!

Chris Daughtry and his band DAUGHTRY will be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today talking about ONE and his recent trip to Uganda. They’ll also talk a bit about our new ONE Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor and the African Children’s Choir will perform.

Chris has been an amazing advocate for ONE. Tune in today. (Air times vary by your area’s TV schedule.)