The Shirts On Our Backs…

February 13th, 2008 at 11:13 pm

They came bearing gifts. Jamie and Justine, that is. Those who attended the Power 100 will certainly remember them; but they trekked all the way up to Connecticut to Sacred Heart University to deliver our weekly challenge prize. The prize was 100 custom ONE T-shirts that one of our own members designed. The coolest part is that they are all made by Edun Live, the company started by Bono’s wife that makes their shirts from 100% African cotton. In the short time we’ve had the shirts, we’ve been the most stylish poverty fighters on campus and are raising quite a demand for them! Thanks again to ONE for the amazing gift; and we made a special video JUST for Weldon and Erin to say thank you! Huzzah!

To Africa!

February 13th, 2008 at 3:35 pm

Hopefully you all have already gotten the email asking you to take action, but just want to remind you here that President Bush is heading to Africa this week – and we’re ask the presidential candidates to pledge to do the same when they get into office.

You’ll get 500 points for signing the petition, and for the final challenge, that might just be the boost you need to get over the top.  So sign the petition and tell your friends to do the same: 

http://www.one.org/visitafrica/

If that wasn’t enough for Lake Forest –

February 12th, 2008 at 11:14 am

Sarah Jones the OCC leader at Lake Forest has led her school to a great victory in the fact that – the great state of Illinois has signed a proclamation declaring it a ONE state. Pretty exciting -

 And it doesn’t stop there - Sarah met with IMAGE Magazine in Chicago, and they want to support the ONE Campaign. They want to use the ONE logo and different charity partners in relation to the ONE Campaign as the benefactors of their events – which is pretty awesome considering they have 2-6 a week. They’re even going to get sponsor donations – which is also phenomenal because the minimum is usually $2,000. Go Lake Forest and go Sarah- they’re targeting Chicago with a passion and its an amazing thing to witness.

Go Lake Forest!

February 12th, 2008 at 11:01 am

So this is what Sarah Jones of Lake Forest had to say to everyone who attended the event to raise money for an organization that provides mosquito nets and insecticide sprayings to poor villages for the defeat of Malaria:
“THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! To all of you who took the time to lend your voice to a cause that hopefully will be passed on the 14th!!! You are showing your support so that your state representative will support this bill and 10 million children will be saved annually! BLESS YOU ALL!!!
As for you guys who donated! WOW!
I haven’t counted all the money yet! But your generous donations resulted in over 400 dollars! which means in one night you save over 40 people!!!!!!!!!!
The love for humanity, the generosity, the empowerment of yourselves through knowledge that all of you demonstrated tonight is a true indicator of how strong we are as a generation. I know that global poverty (meaning people dying of poverty, ….not the notion of just being poor) can be eradicated in 20 years! It is a fact. However, having faith that we would all witness this in our lifetime is something hard to maintain.
Tonight you have given us all hope. I know I personally can say that we are the generation that will eradicate global poverty! YOU GUYS HAVE ALL SHOWN THAT!!!! Thank you to all the wonderful members of ONE who volunteered their time and effort! If you see the beautiful faces of those you interacted with today…Thank them please!
As for all of you- Bless you. Gandhi once said “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Tonight i beared witness to the fact, that all of you simply are that change. Bless you. LETS KEEP MAKING THIS WORLD ROCK WITH EVERY STEP WE TAKE, AND LET THE MOVEMENT OF THE EARTH THAT WE SHAKE, CREATE AN EVEN BETTER WORLD WITH EACH STEP!!!!!!!!!
I AM PERSONALLY SO VERY HUMBLED BY THE BEAUTY I WITNESSED TO NIGHT!!!! THIS IS WHAT BEAUTY IS!!! THANK YOU! BLESS YOU!!! AND YOU SHOUlD ALL BE BEYOND PROUD OF WHAT YOU HAVE ACHIEVED IN ONE NIGHT!!!! ROCK ON!!!! (We will be doing table and accepting donation this monday, and friday, as well as next monday outside the cafeteria).”

Check out pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericlabrat/sets/72157603851518922/

Have I Ever Told You How Lucky You Are?

February 9th, 2008 at 4:55 pm

As University students, the members of the Sacred Heart ONE Campaign have realized one thing; the positive correlation between education and being able to make a difference in the world. So naturally, when the weekly challenge was to integrate ourselves further into the community, we turned to local (very wealthy) Frenchtown Elementary School.

Our target audience consisted of three 2^nd grade classes, so we didn’t want to terrify the kids with the over simplified facts that many ONE members are familiar with. So like any intelligent, free thinking individual, we turned to Dr. Seuss for a little assistance. ONE had previously won a poster design contest here at SHU and our prize was a $50 AMEX gift card, so with our “prize money” we bought three copies of “Have I Ever Told You How Lucky You Are?” and a few extra ONE bands.

Ten of our students and staff arrived at the school at about 1:30 on Friday, armed with the books, bands, and a few packets of construction paper. We went into the classes and introduced ourselves, stating that we were with the ONE Campaign, whose goal was to make life a little bit easier for those less fortunate than ourselves. We had a very informative few minutes, asking them how many meals they ate that day, where they were going after school (most said ‘home’), etc. Then we told them that not everyone was as fortunate; some people don’t get to eat every day, let alone 3 full meals. Cue Dr. Seuss. We read and afterwards passed out the construction paper. We asked them to trace their hands, and inside, to write one thing that they learned. A few selections:

I learned not to waste food. – Breanna

I learned to keep the environment clean – Katie

I learned that I am very lucky to have toys to play with. – Zachary

I learned that if you have extra clothes you can give them to the poor – Annie

I learned that I want to help others – Paul

Anyway, after spending a little more time with the kids (who were adorable, mind you) and taking a few more group pictures, we forced ourselves out of the school because we still had more work to do. We have a surprise for them that we’ll be giving them on Monday morning; a giant ONE poster made up of all their hands with the fingers locked together! It was a colossal effort that we pulled off in a very short amount of time; and there is no doubt in our minds that our devotion to the principles of the ONE campaign have sparked a few future-grassroots activists to join in the fight against poverty. Huzzah!!

~ Mike Fazzino, Sacred Heart University

The “Souper” Bowl

February 5th, 2008 at 5:32 pm

I know, I know. The Giants won on Sunday. But before the real “games” started, Sacred Heart got down to business and won something too. We won a little battle against the fight on hunger. For the week leading up to the Super Bowl, we sponsored our own “Souper Bowl” program; we asked students to take a little extra time when buying their Sunday night snacks to put aside an extra bit of money or buy an extra canned good. The result? Over $1,400 in donations and over 1,000 cans.

A little back story; the St. Charles food pantry in Bridgeport, CT, serves thousands of people each month; but during the holiday season, they actually ran out of food. I’ll repeat that; they ran out of food. 854 million people across the world are hungry right now, and Bridgeport isn’t spared in that terrible statistic.

The SHU ONE Campaign decided that was unacceptable; and so we got together, got the word out there, and really did something. When we delivered all the food (which took a considerable amount of effort and a large van) – we literally stocked the completely empty shelves full. It was an awesome experience, and it just shows that there is a lot to be done not just in areas of extreme poverty abroad, but in your own home or college towns right here.

Taking It Off Campus

February 4th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

This week’s challenge is to reach out by doing a project in your local community. While our efforts on campus can make a huge difference, when we expand our reach we amplify our impact with elected officials and in the local media.

Whether you team up with someone from the local community for a lobbying visit, going to your old high school, or tabling at a local hot spot, this is your chance to start expanding your impact.

You can report your efforts using our handy reporting form.

Have fun with this challenge, this really is a chance to do something very different from your normal routine.

Keep Recruiting

January 28th, 2008 at 6:44 pm

This last week we saw the number of people participating in the Campus Challenge jump in a way that we haven’t seen in a good long while.  To help keep this momentum going we’re going to keep handing out 10,000 points each Monday to the school that recruited the most people in the previous week.

So if your school is lagging, here is your chance to turn it all around.  Start spreading the word.

Write To Your Newspaper

January 24th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

Write a letter to the editor to your local paper and raise the profile of global poverty in the presidential election. We have a brand new tool that you can use to write and send a letter directly to your hometown paper. We even have some pre-written letters, talking points and writing tips to get you started. Check it out here:

http://www.onevote08.org/lte

If you submit an LTE this way you’ll pick up 500 points on top of any points you’ll receive later for having your letter published.

New Report on Child Morality

January 22nd, 2008 at 7:25 pm

Last fall UNICEF released a report showing global child morality had dipped below 10 million deaths for the first time in 2006. Another recent report from UNCIEF, State of the World’s Children 2008, noted that “62 countries were making no or insufficient progress towards a key 2015 child mortality target [Millennium Development Goal 4]” the BBC reported. An excerpt follows:

But the picture painted in the report is one of divergence, with the industriali[z]ed world and parts of the developing world making good progress. [. . .]

[In sub-Saharan Africa], the annual average rate of reduction in the child mortality rate between 1990 and 2006 was only 1% per year – meaning the rate will have to increase to 10.5% per year between 2007 and 2015 if the region is to meet the fourth MDG.

Despite the bleak diagnosis for some countries, the report stressed that these problems can be overcome with improved health delivery models/systems and political will. Generating the political will is the goal of the ONE Campus Challenge and you can gain 500 points for your school by sending a letter to Congress advocating action on child morality and reporting your action.