On Friday, August 15, ONE members from the Pembroke Pines Charter High School, located in Pembroke Pines, Florida, met with Representative Alcee Hastings (D-FL) to talk about the accomplishments of the school’s ONE chapter, which has over 150 members including students and faculty.

The passionate students, along with their teacher Ms. Danielle De Pas, spoke about how they got involved with the ONE Campaign and how they are energizing their peers to become educated about extreme poverty. The school’s charter has been so successful that the ONE movement is now spreading beyond Pembroke Pines High School into the neighboring school districts.

In response, Representative Hastings talked about the importance of engaging young people in the political process early on so that they can help make a difference for generations to come. He hopes that the upcoming election will bring an unprecedented number of young people out to vote who want their voices heard on issues such as extreme poverty.

At the end, he commended the work of the ONE Campaign and slipped on the ONE bracelet to show his support. We thanked him for cosponsoring PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and urged him to continue to support legislation that will alleviate global poverty.

The students, who are organizing a ONE event to be held at the school in January, invited the Congressman to attend and provide a few remarks. We are hopeful that he will be able to be there to show his support.

-Sara Paterni, FL Field Organizer

(Photo from left to right: Andre Riley, Rafael Batista, Rep. Alcee Hastings, Danielle DePas)