2008 Woodie Awards
Celebrities Bono and Rock urge students to join ONE campaign against poverty
Kristina Calvird
Issue date: 10/2/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
The ONE Campus Challenge was unveiled on Saturday night by Bono and Chris Rock at a special Clinton Initiative and MTV forum on youth activism. The challenge is an initiative to provide America's college students with the tools they need to lead the fight again global diseases and extreme poverty.
The forum on Saturday focused on ways young people can give back to their communities here in the United States, and make a difference in the lives of people living in the poorest places on the planet.
"The goal of the ONE Campus Challenge is to recruit 100,000 new ONE members on 1,000 college campuses nationwide and create widespread awareness of global diseases and extreme poverty," said Kimberly Cadena, the ONE Campaign's spokesperson.
Students can join the ONE Campus Challenge by texting their school's keyword to 62523. Signups will be tabulated on ONE.org/campus daily so students can track their school's progress. The campus with the most points overall will have the opportunity to host a special performance on their campus.
"The trip I took to Africa with my family was an incredible, yet depressing journey," said Chris Rock. "We were on the world's most beautiful continent, only to face the somber fact that tens of thousands of children die each day from diseases easily prevented and treated in other countries. It's time to get off our coaches, put down the video games, stop sitting around and do something more to help. That's what ONE is all about," he added.
Why now? Students are in the center of the perfect storm. Never before have American citizens had such a steady stream of information from around the world. We know what's wrong and, thanks to technological advances and aid reform, we have the means to tackle big challenges.
Why students? Because of their online networks, students have the ability to effectively organize on campus, taking their online organizing offline, to influence leaders in their communities and states.
Today's students are politically savvy, mobilizing to bring attention to the crisis in Darfur, stop human rights abuses abroad and increase environmental protections; and politicians pay attention.
There are millions of reasons to get involved, but the most important is that students' efforts will save lives. It will also help improve the lives of billions of people are the world.
ONE student members will also get something out of it. They'll get to meet people, participate in fun events and receive prizes.
The forum on Saturday focused on ways young people can give back to their communities here in the United States, and make a difference in the lives of people living in the poorest places on the planet.
"The goal of the ONE Campus Challenge is to recruit 100,000 new ONE members on 1,000 college campuses nationwide and create widespread awareness of global diseases and extreme poverty," said Kimberly Cadena, the ONE Campaign's spokesperson.
Students can join the ONE Campus Challenge by texting their school's keyword to 62523. Signups will be tabulated on ONE.org/campus daily so students can track their school's progress. The campus with the most points overall will have the opportunity to host a special performance on their campus.
"The trip I took to Africa with my family was an incredible, yet depressing journey," said Chris Rock. "We were on the world's most beautiful continent, only to face the somber fact that tens of thousands of children die each day from diseases easily prevented and treated in other countries. It's time to get off our coaches, put down the video games, stop sitting around and do something more to help. That's what ONE is all about," he added.
Why now? Students are in the center of the perfect storm. Never before have American citizens had such a steady stream of information from around the world. We know what's wrong and, thanks to technological advances and aid reform, we have the means to tackle big challenges.
Why students? Because of their online networks, students have the ability to effectively organize on campus, taking their online organizing offline, to influence leaders in their communities and states.
Today's students are politically savvy, mobilizing to bring attention to the crisis in Darfur, stop human rights abuses abroad and increase environmental protections; and politicians pay attention.
There are millions of reasons to get involved, but the most important is that students' efforts will save lives. It will also help improve the lives of billions of people are the world.
ONE student members will also get something out of it. They'll get to meet people, participate in fun events and receive prizes.
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