Recently ONE members in Minnesota gathered at the Gophers stadium to walk around at talk to U2 concertgoers about fighting extreme poverty through advocacy with ONE. Some members were seasoned and some were brand new. All worked hard and had a good experience knowing they were recruiting new members to a campaign we are all very passionate about. After the event I asked a few volunteers if they could share a few thoughts on their experience with me….
If you asked me a year ago today what I would be doing in 2011, my response would have been ramping up ONE engagement and membership in the Great Lakes States in the US. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I’d be traveling to New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and literally crisscrossing North America on behalf of ONE with the U2 360° Tour. 2010 to 2011 will definitely be a year that I’ll never forget.
What another exciting night on the U2 tour, this time at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. ONE volunteers signed up more than 3,000 new ONE members to join our movement to end extreme poverty and preventable disease. Throughout the day we met people from not only all over the country, but all around the world. After this show outside New York City, new ONE members can be found in Manhattan, Queens, Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and even further afield in Peru, United Kingdom, Germany, and Hong Kong.
Faith Rowland, a ONE volunteer who works at Episcopal Relief and Development had this to share:
“After much excited anticipation, the day of the show finally came around, and I can say that it was totally worth the two-hour bus misadventure just to be there with all the other fans and ONE volunteers. I got to meet loads of really nice and social-justice-minded people while canvassing in the parking lots for new ONE members, and just getting into the show was a thrill, since it was my first U2 concert. I totally cried during ‘Mysterious Ways,’ and loved just watching the guys play. But the best part was getting to actually walk on stage with other volunteers during ‘Walk On,’ which the band dedicated to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the thousands of others who have been imprisoned for their political beliefs.”
U2’s spaceship landed in Pittsburgh, Penn., this past Tuesday for the final show of their US tour. As with previous shows, we had a group of very excited and energetic ONE volunteers ready to greet the fans. From the general admission line, to tailgaters in the parking lots, volunteers spent the afternoon speaking with fans about ONE and explaining how they can help eliminate extreme poverty by using their voices.
“ONE doesn’t want your money, we want your VOICE” could be heard from all around the stadium. After a long afternoon we had well over 3,000 new ONE members!
During the show, Bono — ONE’s cofounder, thanked the volunteers and all the fans who had signed up. He also told the crowd that because of ONE members’ hard work and dedication, US investments have provided funding to put 5 million Africans on antiretroviral treatments!
Hours before U2 rocked Chicago’s Soldier Field, ONE volunteers from all over the country made some noise outside of the gates. About 30 ONE members — coming from as far as Alaska and as close as a couple blocks away — gathered in the Windy City to engage the 80,000 attendees of U2′s July 5th concert. Through some old-fashioned pavement-pounding, those volunteers helped the ONE Campaign grow by 2,747 members. We are proud to welcome these new supporters to the community of more than 2.5 million members who can say “I Am ONE.” The volunteers that showed up asked concert goers to sign a petition to government leaders asking them to support the U.S.’s promised funding to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).
What a great weekend! I had the privilege of spending two days in sunny Anaheim, California working in and outside Angel Stadium mobilizing new ONE members to take action on our latest vaccine petition at the U2 360 Tour. While the band was doing their sound check, we were hitting the pavement hard. I probably got a little too much sun and I’m definitely beat –- but it was well worth it because we brought in more 7,500 new ONE members who raised their voice to ensure that four million kids get access to the vaccines they will need in the next five years.
The U2 360 Tour rolled into California last week and an awesome group of volunteers from the Bay Area came out to Oakland in support of ONE. Nearly 3,000 new ONE members joined the fight against extreme poverty. Here’s what a ONE volunteers Mike and Brian had to say….
ONE volunteer Brian says “we are just going crazy out here.”
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.
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