Friday, May 27, 2011

How does it feel to volunteer at a U2 show? Invigorating.

Invigorating. That’s the first word that comes to mind as I think about my ONE campaign volunteer experience yesterday. How can six hours of hitting the pavement talking to hundreds of people be invigorating?

Simple. Imagine teaming up with 30 equally enthusiastic ONE volunteers. There you are, you’ve got your ONE shirt on, your bag of bracelets and information packets packed into your shoulder bag, and you are ready to spread the word about ONE’s vision to as many people as you can. You are ready to speak on behalf of those who are unable to speak for themselves. You are ready to be an advocate.
And that’s exactly what we did.
Along with invigoration, inspiration is top of my list of emotions to describe how it felt as I informed fellow concert attendees throughout the Rice Eccles Stadium grounds in Salt Lake City.
As I spoke of ONE’s current efforts to save 4 million children by 2015, people’s ears began to perk up. The number was shocking to… but that number is a reality. A harsh reality, which caused several people to ask questions about what they could do.
And ONE volunteers love questions — that means people are already beginning to use their voice to promote justice and equality! And don’t you worry, before too long, as word was getting around throughout the queues at the stadium, people were coming up to me and tapping my shoulder, asking what they could do to help.
What I learned last night was comforting to my activist heart: People want to help! People want to give a voice to those who are unable to speak for themselves. They just are looking for the an outlet to do so, and ONE is able to offer that outlet, whether it be by information, petition-signing, writing to the White House, or better yet, becoming a ONE member and volunteering themselves.
With that said, it is my pleasure to report on behalf of my fellow Utah ONE volunteers and the 3,572 new ONE members: We are ONE! Are you?
-Sara Vranes, ONE community volunteer, Provo/Salt Lake City, Utah

source : http://www.one.org/

No comments:

Post a Comment