ONE staff videographer Kimberly Cadena and I caught up with Grammy Award-winning rock group Switchfoot before they took stage for a packed St. Patty’s Day concert in Washington, D.C. Band members Drew Shirley and Chad Butler, both longtime ONE advocates, took some time to chat with us about our current ONE priorities.
Most of our conversation was focused on the proposed cuts to the US budget that help the world’s poorest people. Drew and Chad know very well that less than 1 percent of our US budget is saving millions of lives, and cuts to something as small as 1 percent could be very devastating. When I mentioned that the proposed cuts could hurt programs that save more than 4,400 human lives each day, Drew and Chad both gasped, noting that “they have seen the living proof that smart aid programs are saving lives.” And with that, these two rockers wanted to share an important message out to fans and ONE members. Check out the video below:
As the two readied themselves to step on stage, I smiled at the fact that Drew and Chad were proudly wearing their white ONE bands, playfully high-fiving each other to show them off. High fives back to these two for being such loyal ONE members and speaking out against the budget cuts -– you rock!
Renée Appert is ONE’s Sr. Manager of US Marketing. She recently joined ONE after leading integrated marketing programs for a Fortune 200 company.
Last week, several ONE members, led by ONE congressional district leader Leslie Scott, volunteered at Switchfoot’s concert in Kansas City. Despite the fact that it was homecoming weekend at my university and I had a literature review to work on, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to volunteer for ONE, so I drove two hours to the concert. It’s fitting that I got to be a ONE volunteer at a Switchfoot concert because it’s through them that I found out about the HIV/AIDS crisis and the advocacy organization DATA — which has since merged and become ONE.
ONE volunteers at the Switchfoot show in Kansas City
At the concert, we talked with concertgoers individually and invited them to join ONE. To those who signed up, we gave ONE pins, stickers and ONE bands so they could represent ONE and our efforts to rally Americans in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease. I personally encountered a few friends of mine and got them all to join, too. As I was about to invite one girl to join ONE, she beat me to the punch and told me how interested she was in getting involved locally with ONE. I was all too happy to hand her my clipboard to sign up. We ended up gaining dozens of new ONE members that night!
Switchfoot has been a long-time supporter of ONE, and they continued showing ONE some love that night during their show. Bassist Tim Foreman wore a ONE T-shirt, and frontman Jon Foreman thanked ONE from the stage toward the end of the concert.
Overall, it was a great night and I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to volunteer at the concert with ONE!
-William Payne, ONE member, Kansas
…And in Omaha
We had a great group of about nine ONE volunteers — some new to ONE, some old pros — who all did a super job! We talked to concertgoers and ended up recruiting more than 140 new members!
ONE Volunteers at the Switchfoot show in Omaha
The concert was also great. Lead singer Jon Foreman gave a shout out to the ONE campaign from stage and thanked us for coming. Later, I was holding up a ONE shirt and he pointed and smiled.
It was a really great experience and I look forward to working with these volunteers and new members soon!
- Steve White, congressional district leader, Omaha
Over the weekend, ONE was able to join Switchfoot for a concert at Thomas Road Baptist Church at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.
Switchfoot, long time ONE supporters, put on a great show. Our volunteers helped sign up new ONE members to take action around our current campaign: ensuring that babies are born HIV-free. Every day, 1,000 new born babies are born with HIV -– something entirely preventable with smart medicines and smart policy. That’s why it was so exciting for me to be part of this moment where Liberty students and others could add their voice to the movement.
Last night, longtime ONE members and supporters, Switchfoot appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live playing a cut (Mess With Me) off their new disc Hello Hurricane. It’s a great tune and a really great disc. So it’s worth watching just for the performance.
But it’s really worth watching for the added bonus of seeing lead singer Jon Foreman sporting a ONE shirt during the performance. It’s a great visual shout out.
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![Switchfoot volunteers Kansas City[1]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1143/5115645136_9667830126.jpg)
