FUNdraising for Nepal!

On Thursday, May 21st, Oxfam Seattle's Action Corps witnessed the power of dedicated volunteers coming together to work towards a better world. That evening, we saw a high school student, Alex Cole, take time out of her busy schedule to hold a wildly successful fundraiser for the people of Nepal, people she will likely never meet. From contacting the Nepalese restaurant in Seattle, to negotiating profit sharing for Oxfam's relief efforts in Nepal, to day of set up, Alex focused, sacrificed her time, gathered friends and family, and with very little oversight, raised over $1,300 in just one night. Those in attendance, young and old (and two Seattle Action Corps Co-Leads) left the event inspired and hopeful about the future.

Alex Cole (second to the left) with event attendees.

And then there was Alison O'Neil, Oxfam Seattle's phenomenally talented Co-Lead, who on her birthday, chose to spend her evening supporting the fundraiser and Red Nose Day. Alison delivered a great speech towards the end of the event to catalyze the crowd into donating through her clear articulation of Oxfam's mission and programming.

This is the power of people. With enough compassion and energy, we can move mountains.

The event coincided with Red Nose Day-a national telethon to raise money to fight poverty.

Action Corps Organizers Ben Wiselogle and Melissa Watkinson show their support!

Oxfam Action Corps takes on food aid and Nepal earthquake relief at annual training in DC

By Brian Rawson

On the morning of Saturday, April 25, thirty-three of our newest initiates to the Oxfam Action Corps filed into a small conference room in Washington DC as news of the earthquake in Nepal was breaking.  The group of Oxfam supporters, including navy veterans, nurses, professors, development workers, high school coaches, facilities managers and other professions, had come to the 9th annual Action Corps training to lobby Congress for US food aid reform and to train for a year of leadership service to Oxfam in the 14 US cities they call home such as New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and even Washington DC.  

As they took their seats and greeted one another, another matter became clear:  one of their members was awaiting devastating personal news from her home country, Nepal. Rallying to her support, by the second day of the training they were using their break time to mount a fundraising drive for Nepal, complete with a homemade video. 

On Tuesday, April 28, Action Corps members took to Capitol Hill to hold 54 meetings with Congress to urge reform of US food aid-5 of which were member level! In fact, one prominent Senator, Dick Durbin (D-IL), agreed to co-sponsor the very same day while others responded favorably and provided intel. The earthquake underscored the urgency of our call to modernize the program. Since the 1950s the US has shipped food aid slowly across the oceans, but the Food for Peace Reform Act of 2015, Senate bill 525, would permit US food aid to be purchased locally near the crisis and delivered faster and cheaper, thus reaching 12 million more people in need without additional cost to the US taxpayer.

If you’re not yet familiar with the Oxfam Action Corps, they are dedicated Oxfam supporters from a variety of professional backgrounds and ages in 14 US cities. They volunteer to build 

our US constituency and voice before Congressional and corporate targets. In its first 8 years the Action Corps held more than 600 lobby visits (half in-district, half in DC), gathered more than 65,000 petition signatures, hosted or presented at 1,650 public events and collaborated with more than 500 local allies.  

On behalf of the Action Corps team of Community & Engagement, including Brian Rawson, Clara Herrero, Bob Ferguson, Nancy Delaney, Alexandria McMahon and Anoushka Barpujari, we would like to thank all our new Organizers for dedicating themselves to this project, and our Peer Advisors for their support (see our prior blog post for their profiles).  We would also like to thank the Oxfam staff who gave their time to help make our training a success, and to all those who provide support to the Oxfam Action Corps throughout the year in their home cities.  THANK YOU!

Announcing the first US Red Nose Day comedy telethon, May 21 on NBC, with proceeds to go to Oxfam America and several other organizations

Please welcome the 2015-2016 Peer Advisors and 
Oxfam Action Corps Organizers!

Happy International Women's Day!

I am looking forward to hearing about the many International Women's Day events held by Oxfam Action Corps cities across the country. If you have photos from your event, please feel free to share them with me on Facebook, where I just posted a request in the OAC Organizers Group.

In the meantime, in honor of International Women's Day, I'd like to share Oxfam America's "Six women who will make you believe we can end hunger". It's an inspiring overview of six women with links to full-length stories.

International Women's Day events are on near you!

Every March 8 for more than a century, millions of people around the world have come together to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8. Here in the US, Oxfam Action Corps members are hosting events that raise awareness and public action in support of women’s efforts to overcome poverty and injustice worldwide. Here's quick look at some of our events, with active links to event pages below the map:

Click the links below for event info!

Albuquerque, NM, Monday March 2nd, 7-9pm Mountain Time.  Come hear an exciting panel of women leaders from our community who inspire doing good for our world!  Click for info

Austin, TX, Sunday March 8th; noon-6:30pm Central Time. at Darwin's Pub, Austin.  Come all to hear from women musicians and supporters for an Oxfam Jam! Click for info.

Berkeley, CA, Join us at the Berkeley Women's Film Festival. Click for info.

Chicago, IL, Saturday March 7, 11am Central Time.  Join us for a screening of "No Land No Food No Life" at the One Earth Film Fest. Click for info.

Des Moines, IA. Tuesday, March 10, 6-8pm Central Time. The event "Empowered Women: Protecting Rights and Resources" will feature a networking reception as well as remarks from distinguished women leaders from our community. Click for info. 

New York, NY, Saturday March 7, 4-6pm Eastern Time.  Join us for a film screening and discussion. Click for info. 

Seattle, WA. Monday, March 2nd, 6pm Pacific Time. Join us for a dialogue between Hannah Owusu‐Koranteng  (Deputy Executive Directo (WACAM), Ghana) and Joanna Manu (a farmer, community activist, and District Assembly representative from southwest Ghana) regarding fair and equitable land rights. Click for info.

And if you want to organize something too, see our webpage at http://www.oxfamamerica.org/take-action/events/international-womens-day/ 

What's it like to lobby?

The Oxfam Action Corps provides a unique opportunity for concerned citizens to share their concerns about global poverty and hunger to their elected officials. Action Corps organizers take part in lobby visits to their Senators and Representatives during the annual training in Washington DC, and lobbying efforts continue throughout the year in Action Corps cities by volunteers who share relevant information on policy positions or provide petition signatures.

A personal account of lobbying with the Oxfam Action Corps was recently posted on the Albuquerque blog by Kathy Chavez: 

To Right the Wrong of poverty we tackled Capitol Hill. That process turned into one of the most rewarding and exciting things I have ever done. Before becoming an Oxfam Action Corps Volunteer, meeting with members of Congress and the Senate seemed out of my reach.

Read more and see several photos on the Albuquerque OAC blog here.

Reminder: It's Time to Become an Action Corps City Organizer!

Hello Everyone!

Let's talk about Action Corps: it is awesome. Period. No two ways about it. And luckily, it is once again that great time to join this amazing group of individuals as an Organizer!

Check out our page for more information about our locations in 16 different cities, the job description, and the application! And look below at what other Organizers have said about their experiences...

"This is leadership in practice. You can't just read a book on leadership. You have to put it into practice." --Jill Mizell, Researcher, New York

"Oxfam Action Corps has given me a ton of confidence... Gaining knowledge and being able to speak to people about the issues." --Amy L., Business Operations Analyst, Des Moines

"This has become one of the best parts of my life... I can't express enough how satisfying it is to be organizing with people who are just as committed and dependable and passionate. It is so great to have the support from the Oxfam America staff, and I've been really impressed by their accessibility, competency and friendliness." --Isaac E., Educator, New York City

Ready to join them? Apply to be an organizer or if you aren't ready yet, consider volunteering with any Action Corps in efforts to help Oxfam fight hunger and social injustices! Remember, Oxfam is here to Right the Wrong so come join us!

Local action. Global change. Become an Oxfam volunteer!

It's time for annual recruitment of volunteers for the Oxfam Action Corps. If you are a new or returning volunteer, sign up is now available online - apply now. Applications are due on February 1.

For current organizers, I've pasted a letter from Brian below. Please feel free to copy and spread the word.

Letter from Brian:

Each day, I work with Oxfam volunteers, supporting community efforts to create global change through local action. Now is your chance to get involved!

Our Oxfam Action Corps volunteer leaders are based in 16 cities across the country and, in just the last year, they have helped change the world by:

• Delivering reports and petitions to big food companies like Kellogg and General Mills to push them to stand up for farmers rights and fight climate change;
• Visiting Congressional offices – in DC and in their hometowns – to advocate for poverty-fighting foreign assistance, lifesaving reforms to food aid policy, and more;
• Mobilizing marchers at the People's Climate March in New York City;
• Hosting Oxfam America Hunger Banquets, World Food Day Dinners, and other events to raise awareness about the global fight against poverty, hunger, and injustice;
• Recruiting hundreds of new Oxfam supporters at concerts, music festivals, and other events;
• ...and so much more.

We're looking for skilled volunteers of various ages and backgrounds for our free national training in Washington D.C., April 24-28, 2015. We also provide online training and opportunities to meet other volunteers in your city. If you have some organizing experience and a passion for global justice, we want you! This is a great opportunity to develop your leadership skills with support from Oxfam staff and to take meaningful action locally to help change the world. Apply now >>

Our volunteers include people of all ages and backgrounds, including moms and dads, professors and students, nurses, pastors, bank tellers, tech experts, retirees, food workers, musicians and, yes, even rocket scientists! Here's what a few of them have said about their experiences:

"This is leadership in practice. You can't just read a book on leadership. You have to put it into practice." – Jill Mizell, Researcher, New York

"Oxfam Action Corps has given me a ton of confidence...Gaining knowledge and being able to speak to people about the issues." – Amy L., Business Operations Analyst, Des Moines

"This has become one of the best parts of my life...I can't express enough how satisfying it is to be organizing with people who are just as committed and dependable and passionate. It is so great to have the support from the Oxfam America staff, and I've been really impressed by their accessibility, competency and friendliness." – Isaac E., Educator, New York City

Check out more info here, and then apply to join the Oxfam Action Corps here. Applications are due on February 1.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me.

Thanks so much, and we looking forward to hearing from you.

Brian Rawson
Senior Advisor, Community Organizing
Oxfam America

Cutting Life Saving Foreign Aid? That's Lame!

The Philadelphia Action Corps gets ready to lobby!

Over the past two weeks, the Oxfam Action Corps have put their petition deliveries into motion! 31 visits and  8,000 signatures later, the Action Corps made their voices heard during this crucial Lame Duck session that could have a huge impact on the United States budget and the allocations to foreign aid.

Delivering fact sheets, duck candies proclaiming "Cutting Life-Saving Foreign Aid? That's Lame", and thousands of petition signatures, the Action Corps made quite a splash at the offices of their Congressional Representatives and Senators.  Take a look at the Oxfam Action Corps at work:

To get involved with the Oxfam Action Corps and see more of what they do around the country, click here! And to see more from lobby visits, check out the New Mexico Action Corps and Minnesota Action Corps special petition-delivery edition blog posts!

Austin

Austin Action Corps leaders at Senator Cornyn's office

Burlington

Oxfam Action Corps Vermont leader Heather Davis holds up some duck candies at Sen Leahy's office

Chicago

Chicago leader Adam Farag at with staff at Rep Jan Schakowsky's Chicago office

 New York City

The NYC Action Corps poses with their rubber duck prop outside Rep Lowey's office

Des Moines

The Iowa Action Corps and Oxfam staff Jim French meet with staff at Sen. Harkin and Sen. Grassley's office

San Francisco

The San Francisco Action Corps and Susan Godwin, Oxfam America Food Hero 2012 from Nigeria, pay a visit to Rep. Pelosi's office

Action Corps Offers Up Awesome October!

Through the month of October the Oxfam Action Corps has come out stronger than ever before. With 18 self-organized events and participation in over 50 events during the course of the month, October has been one of the most active and successful months yet. Not only has the Action Corps hosted and organized a World Food Day event in each of the 15 cities, each city was also the host to several World Food Day dinners each. Together, the 15 separate Action Corps branches conquered and surpassed our 300 Action Corps dinner goal with an astonishing total of 365 dinners! Wow! 

Take a look at some of the events that helped us smash our 300 dinner goal:

Albuquerque participated in Bread for New Mexico’s dinner and prayer circle and had a community dinner using leftovers from a local farmers market!

At the World Food Day event in Columbus!

The Farmer’s Tour trailed across the eastern US, allowing speakers Susan Godwin, Oxfam America’s Food Hero 2012, and Dienaba Diallo to speak on panels in South Carolina, DC, New York, Pennsylvania, Columbus, and ended in Des Moines, Iowa at the World Food Prize!

The World Food Prize brought great minds together to learn about the newest innovations in agriculture and what they mean for our planet’s food security. The Iowa Action Corps (plus volunteers from around the country) were there, stopping for tea with some of food’s finest thinkers!

Tabling at the World Food Prize

Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago, and Albuquerque munched on some GROW friendly eats at their own Grubwithus dinner! 

The poster for Minneapolis' benefit concert!

Minneapolis jammed to some tunes to raise money for the Sahel at a benefit concert before hosting a public potluck for World Food Day!


Indianapolis hosted a Congressional Forum to discuss food issues, while Burlington added a GROW theme to a local benefit dinner! 

San Francisco had a GROW themed gala to cheer on the Giants, while Madison partnered with Slow Food at the University of Wisconsin for a meal of 100+! Austin hosted a GROW meal in the park, while Kansas City hosted a public potluck.

An Austin volunteer promotes World Food Day dinners!

From coast to coast, each Action Corps city had a role in our huge successes this month. These events are only a small sample of all the incredible things that the Action Corps accomplished for Oxfam America this World Food Day! And things aren’t slowing down yet- the Action Corps is going full force ahead into November with more events, tabling, and Oxfam America Hunger Banquets on the way! Click “Join Us” in the upper left hand corner to sign up for local updates and learn more about what your city’s Action Corps has in the works! To learn more about Oxfam America, click here.

Here are some more photos from World Food Day festivities around the country!

Columbus event attendees munch on local eats!

An Albuquerque volunteer enjoys some World Food Day snacks!

Tabling at the World Food Prize

NYC Action Corps at a GROW themed potluck

Highlight: World Food Fest in Iowa!

Check out the latest stats from the Iowa Action Corps!  This post, from their blog on 9/27/12 shows just what an impact the Action Corps can make at one all-star event!

By The Numbers

The 8th U.S. Cellular World Food Festival "By The Numbers"

Number of planning meetings before the festival: 3

Number of hours spent making the map: 6

Number of food vendors: 39

Number of food plates drawn by children: 100+
Number of banana costumes: 1

Number of bruised thumbs: 2 (low accuracy with a hammer)

Number of days in the East Village: 3
Number of attendees: 75,000 (approximate)
Number of recorded volunteer hours: 150
Number of minutes on the DVD tribute slideshow: 25

And…drum roll, please…


Number of petition signatures: 1,050

Volunteers Brittney and Aaron showcase

our Oxfam booth!

We really couldn’t be more impressed with how receptive festival-goers were with Oxfam’s GROW campaign. Check out the pictures below (and more on our Facebook page) for how beautiful our booth looked with all of the plates of food that children were drawing. So many thanks to our volunteers and to everyone who stopped when we said, “Have you heard of Oxfam?”


  

Children were asked to make plates of food
for a child that didn't have enough to eat.

 
Stay tuned for our Des Moines GROW Method Binder, which will be uploaded with next week’s blog post. After that, we start a 3-part series of blog posts leading up to the World Food Prize here in Des Moines and a celebration of World Food Day.

What an August! Non-stop Action for the Oxfam Action Corps!

This week may have been one of our most active months yet, with activities ranging from music fests to radio shows to farmers markets all over the country! Take a quick look at what’s been happening in the Oxfam Action Corps nation:

Getting petitions signed in Des Moines!

Tabling in Chicago

 Burlington, Albuquerque, Madison, Des Moines, Chicago, Philly, NYC, Austin, AND Seattle have all   been tabling at their local farmers markets. Woo what a mouthful! That’s over half the Action Corps cities!

NYC was rocking out at the Mint Green Music Festival and the Catalpa Festival! All this and a relaxing weekend retreat!

Chicago sparked some interest at the 2012 Leaky Con! (See post here)

Austin stayed up late for a Cinema East film screening of Girl Walk//All Day, then woke up early to help out at a local food bank!

Kansas City set what must be a record with their first meeting attendance of 11 new people! Wow!

Minneapolis at the Homegrown Experience

 Minneapolis grabbed some good eats at the Homegrown Experience, a local food festival!

Burlington spread the word with a segment on Goddard College’s radio show!

Boston and San Francisco started the World Food Day buzz by hosting a Grubwithus dinner and a local potluck! (For more, see post here)

Columbus and Philadelphia jammed with our musical partners Sidi Toure, Wilco and the Bare Naked Ladies! 

Boston volunteers at a Coldplay concert!

What’s the best part about all that's happening? It’s only a small portion of what goes into every day and happens every week with the Action Corps. Each of our 15 cities has been doing so much this month that it can’t nearly be squeezed into one blog post- and there’s only more to come in September! For more information on your city, “Join Us” in the upper left hand corner to sign up for local updates!

NYC Volunteers at the NYC Action Corps Retreat!

Albuquerque Tabling at a local Farmers Market

Burlington Action Corps tabling at Summervale Farmers' Market!

Boston Grubwithus Dinner Success Story!

The Here is a post from August 17,2012 from the Boston Action Corps blog. On August 23rd, the Action Corps hosted a fun and highly successful Grubwithus dinner, a great way to bring like minds together and discuss GROW. What's even better? It counts towards our ever increasing World Food Day dinner count! 

Want to grub in your hometown? Go to  https://www.grubwithus.com/oxfam  to get started!

Last night, we held our first Love Food, Hate Injustice dinner at City Table in Boston. It was a wonderful and enriching experience. Thanks to Grubwithus for picking a restaurant with great food and a beautiful atmosphere.

At first, we were not sure how the evening would unfold, but we were soon reminded that as long as there is good food and kind people sharing the same interests, good times and interesting conversations are sure to follow. 

We were lucky to have Susan Tamoney with us, an incredibly engaging speaker (we even suggested she should consider a career in radio broadcasting), and one of our biggest supporters in community outreach in Boston. Susan came with two wonderful guests, Ed Barker and Melanie Hardy from Land's Sake, who helped us generate ideas for upcoming events like World Food Day, and kindly invited us to pick up tomatoes at their farm in Weston. We will be posting more on all these exciting news soon!

Thanks to all of those who joined us. It was a pleasure sharing good food and ideas with all of you.

Chicago Oxfam Action Corps at the Leaky Con

The Chicago Oxfam Action Corps recently tabled at the Leaky Con, a conference for devoted Harry Potter fans that has recently become more involved with various humanitarian outreach initiatives. Read this great post by Chicago's Jessica Benoit to hear how this unlikely connection turned into a fantastic event for Oxfam!

Bonnie Wright, Oxfam Ambassador, during her trip to Senegal

What do Oxfam and Harry Potter have in common? I couldn’t come up with anything at first, but then I realized: they are both committed to making their 

community a better place. That’s why it made perfect sense that the Chicago Oxfam Action Corps posted up at the Leaky Con for 4 days in order to gain support for the GROW campaign. For those of you who have no idea what I’m referencing, the Leaky Con is a 4-day annual conference held for Harry Potter enthusiasts from around the globe. Fans come from literally all around the world to this sold-out conference to spend a long weekend among those with a similar love for Harry Potter to attend meetings, discussions, classes, concerts, plays, and more in the name of Harry Potter fandom. One of Oxfam’s biggest connections to the Leaky Con is the wonderful Harry Potter Alliance itself. Their Imagine Better Project is currently working on a campaign called Hunger is Not a Game, where they encourage others to pledge and support Oxfam's GROW campaign. Additionally, one of Oxfam's very own ambassadors is the lovely Bonnie Wright, who plays Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter movies. It was great to be among so many others who are concerned about world hunger and willing to stop and learn a little bit about what they can do to help.

Our Goal!

Having set quite a lofty goal of getting 1,000 signatures of Leaky Con goers, Oxfam Action Corps members had their work cut out for them. We set up our table in the vendor section of the conference, but were challenged by being placed in a far corner of the hall with semi-low fan-traffic flowing through. Not to be discouraged, we set to the halls dressed as a banana, talking to the fans waiting in line for events about Oxfam America, the GROW campaign, the GROW method, and how they can get involved with Oxfam in their own communities. We even joined the crowds at the Leaky Con ball on Saturday night, complete with an Oxfam sticker-skirt and banana suit. Among the costumes, ball gowns, and “butter beer,” we managed to stand out, gather a few more signatures, and have a great time. The enthusiasm expressed by almost everyone we approached was welcoming and encouraging, though we fell just short of our goal. Wrapping up the weekend with a total of 698 new GROW pledgers was an amazing feeling, and all our hard work certainly paid off!

A huge thank you to all the volunteers who came and supported us, and helped us inch closer to our goal. We could NOT have done it without all your enthusiasm, energy, and dedication! Check out the pictures below to see more of the fun:
-J.Benoit

View film from Bonnie Wright's trip to Senegal here

 Can the Harry Potter Alliance inspire their world of fans to do a world of good? Let us know your thoughts! Comment below or email actioncorps@oxfamamerica.org