A new club on campus is focused on battling poverty around the world.
ONE is a new student club that has been active on the UA campus for one month. The club stems from the worldwide nonprofit organization “ONE” that serves as a campaign to educate people in the United States on extreme poverty, according to club secretary Ariana Munoz, a junior studying public health and French.
“I understand that college students are busy, but we really want to try to make these global issues apparent,” Munoz said. “There are millions of people suffering and we have the power to help.”
ONE members are trying to persuade the U.S. government to donate at least 1 percent of its budget to international affairs by creating petitions, writing letters to Congress and fundraising.. Currently the U.S. is donating .6 percent of its budget to international affairs, which has already helped millions around the world who face extreme poverty, said Aileen Leyva, a biochemistry junior and club president.
Local members have received college challenges from the international level of ONE to promote the cause and the club itself. This past month, ONE completed challenges, which included hosting a bake sale, tabling on the UA Mall and writing facts about extreme global poverty with chalk on sidewalks of the campus.
“I have been active with ONE since I was in middle school. After discovering that the first attempt to bring ONE to UA campus did not work out, I wanted to make an effort to make the organization active on UA campus,” Leyva said.
ONE on campus has not only worked to promote itself as a club but has worked with other nonprofit organizations like the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation to forward global activism for HIV and AIDS. ONE members also assisted in the SAAF Annual Fashion Show last month, Levya said.
ONE is planning additional events for the rest of the semester with the help of 15 active members on the UA campus. In April, a jello wrestling fundraiser is scheduled, as well as further work with SAAF, according to Leyva.
“I have seen messages of ONE that are written on sidewalks of campus and actually purchased food from their bake sale,” said Erin Cain-Hodge, a Mexican-American studies junior. “I think ONE is a good cause.”
