ONE Vote Organizer Abby Sasser reports live from Tampa, Florida at the Republican National Convention.
The first few days of the Republican National Convention (RNC) have been exciting, and ONE spirit is in full effect! Volunteers have been up bright and early every day for MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Donning ONE shirts, ONE members cheered on guests and shook hands with everyone from Michael Steele to Tom Brokaw. We did all this with the purpose of letting the RNC know that ONE is HERE and we want to make sure ending extreme poverty and preventable disease is part of Republican platform.
We made a bunch of ONE goody bags to give to people at the RNC. This is what’s inside them.
ONE members are the reason we are able to do what we do. We need your voice in order to persuade congress that smart effective aid is important –- and it works! Tampa volunteers have been representing this week by letting the whole Republican party know how vital these programs are to the world’s poorest people.
SEE ALSO: 3 Takeaways from ONE’s foreign policy panel at the Republican National Convention
President and CEO Michael Elliot and US Executive Director Tom Hart even took a short break from the convention floor to sit down with local ONE members and hear firsthand why they choose to donate their time to us.
Onester Sandra Herrera summed it up nicely when she said that while she liked that ONE was bipartisan and didn’t fund-raise, what matters to her the most is that ONE gives her the opportunity to effect change on a larger level. “I am just one person, but by being an advocate I am able to make a big difference for someone who might not have a voice in this country.”
Follow our live feed of ONE at the RNC on Storify:
Panel discussion we saw last night.
Yesterday afternoon, faithful volunteers got a treat by being invited to an all-star session. Condoleezza Rice, Cindy McCain, Josh Bolten, Michael Gerson, Kay Granger and Constance Berry Newman came together to discuss the Republicans’ role in foreign assistance through programs like PEPFAR. More on that here.
Follow Abby Sasser at @AbbySass on Twitter. Stay in touch with our efforts on the campaign trail at #onevote2012.
Pictured at top: ONE members on the set of Morning Joe.