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If you have any questions, please contact:
- Amy Quinn (Volunteer Team Leader, L.A.), amyquinnone@yahoo.com
- Matt Higgison (ONE), Matt.Higginson@one.org
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ONEBlogLA@thehollywoodwriter.com
It was another night of fashion, fun and hope as the ONE Campaign came to spread awareness at last week’s fashion-music-awareness extravaganza in Los Angeles.
The HYPE Fashion Show, hosted by fashion-awareness company Bright Lights LA (www.brightlightsla.com) was held at El Cid in Hollywood, and featured bands, DJs, and runway fashions from local designers.
ONE volunteers Sherri Bui and Luiz were on hand explaining ONE’s mission to speak out for the world’s poorest people, and getting sign-ups from enthusiastic attendees. A full page of names was collected!
Sherri Bui thanks everyone who stopped by the ONE table to sign the Declaration. “We appreciate those who expressed interest in becoming a ONE volunteer. I’m really excited to think of all the new people who will now be informed and involved in fighting poverty, AIDS and climate change. The downward pressures on the developing world are truly staggering, and our voices have never been needed more. Thank you for all that you do. And thank you Luiz for all your help and enthusiasm, which got others excited, too.”
The fashion show was organized by ONE volunteer Paul Avion, whose band Par Avion (www.paravionmusic.com) was a recent SPIN Magazine pick, and who co-owns the fashion-awareness company Bright Lights LA.
Congratulations ONE L.A. and ONE volunteers Sherri Bui and Luiz!
- ONE Los Angeles
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Reprinted from ONE.org
Yesterday was a phenomenal day for Los Angeles volunteers and members of ONE. LA was declared a ONE City by Mayor Villaraigosa. Mayor V. had this to say. “The declaration of Los Angeles as a ONE city is a testament to our uncompromising determination to combat poverty and preventable disease in the United States and globally. As a city, we must unite as one, raise awareness and never turn our backs on the most vulnerable members of society”.
We were also thrilled to have Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an important Congressional ally of ONE, attend and offer her support at this historic event. Representative Waters has been a tireless champion for development issues and authored the JUBILEE Act to expand the number of poor countries that are eligible for debt relief. It passed the U.S. House of Representatives last Congress but was stalled in the Senate, and she is expected to re-introduce it this year. Speaking at the press conference yesterday, Representative Waters asserted that, “As individuals, communities, and nations, we can and must join in efforts to fight extreme poverty and prevent deadly diseases. Los Angeles is a global city, so it is appropriate that we are a “ONE City” dedicated to important global causes. Likewise, I will continue to advocate for applying American generosity, ingenuity, and prosperity to aid the world’s poor and vulnerable.” We could not agree more.
I was doing an interview with a journalist yesterday and they asked me about what “What comes next for members of ONE in LA, was this event the end game?” The truth is no, and we don’t know exactly when the next Kerry-Lugar type bill will hit. But we know that ONE members and volunteers will be ready to make phone calls, write their leaders, and give a voice to the voiceless children in Africa. It was reiterated to me yesterday as I answered that question, that the members of ONE are the power of ONE. Whether it is volunteers raising awareness with local leaders at City Hall in Los Angeles, or ensuring that life-saving legislation is supported within the walls of Congress in Washington—the members of ONE are the power of ONE.
-Matt Higginson, LA ONE Field Organizer
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ONE California has a big reason to celebrate!
THE ONE TEAM LOS ANGELES has just announced that on January 14, 2009, Los Angeles approved and signed a resolution to become a City of ONE.
The resolution, signed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City Council President Eric Garcetti, and seconded by ALL 16 council members, concluded as follows:
“NOW THEREFORE IT BE RESOLVED, that by adoption of this resolution, the Los Angeles City Council along with the Mayor, City Attorney and City Controller do hereby declare Los Angeles to be a ‘CITY OF ONE’ and encourage everyone to recognize the devastating impact extreme poverty and global AIDS have around the world and take action to bring about change.
“I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution was adopted by the City of Los Angeles at its meeting held January 14, 2009.”
These signatures make Los Angeles the latest in some 120+ cities who have signed the ONE resolution, meant to further awareness of the extreme poverty and preventable disease that continues to affect ONE billion people.
The resolution was made possible by the work of Cecilia Cabello, Legislative Deputy of the Office of Council President Eric Garcetti, who believed in the resolution and guided it internally to realization.
Congratulations to the entire ONE L.A. Team!
For more information on ONE L.A., contact Amy Quinn (Volunteer Team Leader, L.A.) at amyquinnone@yahoo.com!
- ONE L.A.
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Posted in Congress, Political, Uncategorized
Last weekend, the ONE Santa Monica team had a Sunday afternoon of splash, surf and fun during the World Festival of Sacred Music – a once-in-three-years Southern California event that attracted crowds to the beach by the hundreds!
Local ONE Members gathered for the event in conjunction with the Church in Ocean Park’s Fancy Dress Swim Against Poverty, a reoccurring event with the ONE Santa Monica Team. The sun shined and the waves crashed amongst their feet as they waddled through the shore spreading the word about ONE.
Clipboards in hand, ONE Members roamed the beaches handing out pamphlets and dancing to rhythmic beats. It wasn’t long until “beach bums” started approaching them and asking for bands! By the end of the night, over 50 Festival attendees had signed up, including two new OCC Campus Leaders.
Hang ten, ONE Santa Monica!
-Betsy Avila and Paul Avion
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Posted in Music
Temple Sinai of Glendale, CA – The Glendale Community Forum on Genocide in Darfur opened with Representative Adam Schiff adamantly stating that though we’ve spoken and said a lot about genocide, we’ve done very little to prevent and stop it. Having a panel of genocide survivors is an intense experience to say the least.
Father Vazken Movsesian, a descendent of survivors from the Armenian Genocide, took the stage first, stating firmly that we simply cannot allow genocides to become footnotes in history. He spoke of his travels to Rwanda and the women he met who were widowed by genocide, left alive only because it was assumed they would soon be wiped out by the AIDS virus, which they all had contracted.
In the midst of these heartbreaking stories, I was caught off guard by a single sentence. Mohamed Suleiman, a Rwandan Genocide survivor, mentioned that in Darfur people have stopped trusting their own government. Instead, they put their faith and trust in grassroots organizations and activists, because are the only group that can’t be steered in different directions by politics or be forced to ignore their concerns for human life. I was inspired by these words, knowing that our actions here can affect the lives of the people there. I was filled with a sense of responsibility, learning that their hopes rely on what we as activists can get accomplished.
The ONE volunteers directed a question to the panel, asking to what extent they believed extreme poverty and economic crises leads to atrocities of war and genocide. Both Suleiman and Rep. Schiff stated that although this isn’t always the case, extreme poverty in Africa specifically has a large impact on these resulting deaths.
“Poverty is the root cause of all problems,” stated Suleiman. Superficially, he continued, wars are fought about ethnicity and differences, but in reality, there is a competition for resources. Soldiers primed to commit genocide are told that the others have better resources, that they horde the best for themselves, and in these poor conditions, they have no choice but to believe this to be true.
Rep. Adam Schiff concluded by stating that education and an agricultural infrastructure are essential factors to help those in need gain self-sufficiency. Education is especially important to combat those forces of propaganda attempting to dehumanize others and to gain control over people’s actions through lies.
It was refreshing to hear those who’d suffered through these atrocities speaking of the need for more action from us, the grassroots volunteers. It’s also moving to think that our small actions such a call to a representative or a signature on a petition can move our government in the right direction toward stopping and preventing conditions brought about by extreme poverty!
- Nare Ovsepian, ONE Member
ONE Members in L.A. are gearing up for this year’s Hunger Banquet, to be held Saturday, October 11 at the Media City church in Burbank.
In the words of L.A. Volunteer Team Coordinator Robin Hatcher,
“The global hunger crisis is having a dramatic effect on the world’s poor and hungry. Due to the rising cost of food, an additional 100 million people are hungry. Learn more about the global hunger crisis and how you can respond at an upcoming Hunger Banquet. Bread for the World invites you to participate in an eye-opening event about the root causes of hunger.
What is a Hunger Banquet?
A Hunger Banquet is an opportunity to learn about the reality of hunger. Participants are divided into groups based on income levels that exist throughout the world. They receive food based on this level of wealth. The event seeks to raise awareness and promote discussion about inequality in our world. The event is free and open to the public.”
To learn more or sign up, click here, or RSVP to Robin at itblewaway@yahoo.com.
Attendees, remember to send us your photos and observations, and we’ll post them here.
- Information provided by Robin Hatcher, L.A. Volunteer Team Coordinator
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SoCal Regional Coordinator Betsy Avila and Paul Avion met with Melvin Tabilas today, the Field Deputy for Congressman Xavier Becerra (CA-31).
We were excited about this meeting with a representative for a member of Congress for the ONE Campaign. Although Congressman Becerra is in Washington, Field Deputy Mr. Tabilas was very generous in giving us an appointment as part of a very busy day to discuss Congressman Becerra’s commitment to both his constituents and in working to pass legislation such as PEPFAR.
Our first order of business was to thank the Congressman for his support of PEPFAR in particular, which Congressman Becerra voted to support in April.
The PEPFAR legislation, which was signed into law by President Bush on July 31, meant and means historic funding levels to fight AIDS, TB and malaria in the world’s poorest countries.
Mr. Tabilas was also interested to learn that the ONE Campaign has 4,200 members in Congressman Becerra’s district, CD-31, which includes the Echo Park area. (Map of CD-31) Mr. Tabilas was interested to learn more about ONE members’ needs in his district.
In the days ahead, we’d love to hear from members of CD-31. Mr. Tabilas told us the more specific we can be in terms of legislation we’d like to see supported, the more Congressman Becerra can focus on trying to help.
The event was very informational, and a lot of fun.
Congressman Xavier Becerra’s blog: http://www.house.gov/apps/blog/ca31_becerra/
- Betsy Avila and Paul Avion
On a recent Saturday night at the Echo in Los Angeles, Par Avion Band played in conjunction with a fashion show to help promote awareness of ONE’s ongoing campaign to fight poverty and preventable disease.
The fashion show, held by Beckie Lynn Productions, featured a number of upcoming Los Angeles models showcasing the work of local designers, and was hosted by Scarlett Cassanova, of L.A. club Hang the DJs.
The objective of the combined fashion /music event was to increase awareness of the ONE Campaign among L.A.’s immense audience of music enthusiasts. Paul Avion wore the ONE shirt on stage, and interested music-lovers from the Los Angeles area signed up to receive more information on ONE. The ONE portion of the event was coordinated by ONE’s SoCal Field Organizer Betsy Avila and ONE volunteers Nare Ovsepian and Kyle McNeal.
Due to the success of the event, more fashion-music events in L.A. are in the works for fall!
-Paul Avion, Betsy Avila, Nare Ovsepian and Kyle McNeal
