Coming together as ONE

ONE is a grassroots campaign and advocacy organization that is committed to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease. Their most current campaign is looking for the help of college students across the nation to aid their cause.

ONE is an organization that was co-founded by Bono in 2002. It works closely with African leaders and policy makers in an effort to assist in development, trade and the economy.

On Nov. 30, 2009, ONE launched their newest campaign, "Coming Together as ONE." This most recent project is a public service announcement campaign designed to mobilize young people to get involved in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. The PSAs debuted online and first hit broadcast television on Dec. 2, 2009, during an episode of "Gossip Girl" on the CW.

The PSA campaign features young stars in the field of pop culture including actors and actresses Leighton Meester, Jessica Szohr and Ed Westwick from "Gossip Girl;" Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed and Jackson Rathbone from "Twilight;" Hayden Panettiere from "Heroes;" Corbin Bleu from "High School Musical;" Tristan Wilds from "90210;" John Cho from "StarTrek" and Brandon T. Jackson from "Tropic Thunder."

The PSAs are the product of Jesse Dylan, who also produced the video collaboration with the Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am for President Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" campaign.

ONE is targeting some of the younger generation because of the impact they have had on numerous issues lately, including last year's election. "In the last election, and over the course of history, young people have shown that when we get organized and committed, we are powerful. The fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease in poor countries needs our support, our energy and our commitment," said actress and ONE member Ashley Greene.

The PSA highlights the power that today's youth has in being agents for social change. The younger generation has been at the core of social justice throughout history and has advocated civil and women's rights movements.

"Today's young people have already shown us they are powerful change-makers. They've done it in the recent presidential election and many are looking for the next social movement," said David Lane, president and CEO of ONE. "'Coming Together as ONE' aims to harness that power and build a buzz among Millennials. We know this generation can help defeat extreme poverty, put more kids in school and protect families from preventable disease such as AIDS, [tuberculosis] and malaria."

The public service announcements are also being used as a way to promote the ONE Campus Challenge (OCC). OCC is a national competition that encourages students to organize a campaign against global poverty. The challenge is a friendly competition to determine which university's student body has the most effective global poverty-fighting campaign. During the last election, students held rallies and showed up at stops along the campaign routes to discuss the candidates' plans for fighting poverty.

At this point, students from more than 2,500 schools have taken more than 270,000 actions to fight poverty since the OCC began in Aug. 2007. Students can get involved and learn more by visiting www.one.org/campus.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.