calendar August 26, 2009 in News

Philadelphia joins ONE anti-poverty campaign

Philadelphia is now a ONE city, committed to raising awareness of the global anti-poverty campaign launched here in 2004 by U2 singer Bono and other co-founders.

"onemayorpic"Mayor Michael Nutter signed a proclamation designating the city as a “ONE city” at a City Hall ceremony on Aug. 25.

“When we put our collective efforts together around the issue of poverty, think of the impact it has on so many lives, not just here in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, but around the world,” the mayor said.

“This is Philadelphia-style ‘brotherly love’ at its finest,” Pr. Matt Staniz of Temple Lutheran Church, Havertown, said at the signing. The global initiative, more than 2 million individuals strong prevented to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, “reflects the type of love that we must have for each other: a love that is reflected in justice, equality, and action,” Staniz said.

“The hardship faced by impoverished nations is staggering,” Mayor Nutter said in his remarks, noting that more than 1 billion people live on less than one dollar per day and nearly 25,000 children die each day in the poorest countries of the world.

ONE’s efforts “to rally people, one by one, to champion change” on behalf of the poorest of the poor “will save thousands of lives and improve the way America is seen around the world,” the mayor said.

“Today we stand together as ONE,” Staniz said. “We stand as ONE with the poor. We stand as ONE with the billion people trying to survive on less than a dollar a day. We stand as ONE with the thousands who are dying of preventable and treatable diseases. We stand as ONE with millions of people committed to changing these realities. Today we stand together as ONE Philadelphia. We are the city of brotherly love, and we are a ONE city!”