The ONE Campus Challenge competition between colleges and universities is officially kicking off next week, but Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri has thrown down the pre-season gauntlet by logging an incredible 70 phone calls in support of ONE’s Upgrade Aid campaign.
Check out this video to see how they did it:
The Upgrade Aid campaign is about better, smarter U.S. foreign assistance — so the precious development dollars we fight so hard for all year go to the best, most efficient programs on the ground. Webster University’s 70+ calls supporting the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act seem to have made an impact with Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, who officially signed on as a cosponsor for the bill on Tuesday.
You can still make phone calls on behalf of S. 1524 here. And now we also have an Upgrade Aid petition you can sign, here.
Last year, Webster University’s ONE Campus Challenge participation ranked them in the top 10 global poverty-fighting schools in the nation. This year, they’re already setting the bar high, and we’re excited to see what the new season brings from each of the more than 2,400 Campus Challenge schools.
Over the past two weeks, more than 1,000 ONE members have made phone calls to their senators to support an upgrade to U.S. foreign aid — in the form of S. 1524, the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act.
But with the committee deliberation on this bill pushed back a second time, until October 6, we’re stepping up our game. In addition to phone calls, we’re now asking ONE members to sign a petition on this critical legislation. We’ll deliver that petition to your senators next week, before the October 6 committee mark-up.
S. 1524 gives the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) the tools and people to keep fighting hunger and poverty around the world, and do it even better. And it gives us new mechanisms to know what works and doesn’t, so we can make sure our investments are making a difference.
That means better, smarter USAID programs to help the most difficult-to-reach farmers grow crops and feed more of Africa’s 265 million hungry people. It means more support for treating 6.6 billion liters of water in Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia. And it also means better immunization, polio eradication, nutrition, diarrhea and pneumonia care, and maternal and neonatal healthcare through USAID programs across the African continent.
The bipartisan the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act is a key first step towards better, smarter U.S. foreign aid. Tell your senators that upgrading aid is a priority for you, and don’t forget to share the petition with your friends.
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