Make a Call Today! Promote Life-saving Food Aid Reform!

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BREAKING: House to vote on food aid reform any moment Call your U.S. representative now to ask them to support reforms that will deliver aid more quickly and more effectively to save more lives. Just call 1-888-404-5166 now to connect with your member of Congress for free! There's very little time, and this is VERY important: The House is about to vote on an amendment to the farm bill that would radically improve the way the US provides food aid. Oxfam has been working on fixing our government's broken food aid policies for years, and we've never had a chance like this. This amendment would feed 4 million more people a year at no additional cost to taxpayers. But for this amendment to pass, we need your U.S. representative's support. Seize the moment with us – make a call to reform food aid now! To make your call, just dial 1-888-404-5166 and follow the prompts to connect to your Representative. Then, tell the staffer: "My name is____, and I'm a supporter of Oxfam America, calling from _______ to ask that my Representative vote YES on the Royce-Engel Food Aid Reform Amendment to the Farm Bill. It's bipartisan, and the amendment will save lives and money – it will ensure that the US government has the flexibility it needs to provide lifesaving emergency food assistance where it's needed most, in the fastest and most cost effective way. Will my Representative be supporting this amendment?" If your call doesn't go through on the first try, that just means momentum is building and so many people are calling that the line is busy – wait two minutes and then try again! This is our chance to fix a huge problem with US government food aid – and help it reach millions more people. Will you make a ca;l? Thanks in advance for your time – your words will make a HUGE difference in this fight. Sincerely, Oxfam America Advocacy Fund Want to keep this work going? The Oxfam America Advocacy Fund is powered entirely by supporters like you. Every dollar goes towards fixing the laws and policies that keep people in poverty – contribute now.

Reforming US Food Aid: Petition Deliveries in Full Swing!

Changing the way that the US distributes foreign food aid has been a priority for Oxfam America for years. For too long, US food assistance has come in the form of American wheat and produce shipped overseas and flooding foreign markets, taking several weeks to arrive and then competing with goods from local small-holder farmers.

This year President Obama proposed an overhaul of this system where 45% of US food aid would be delivered in the form of food bought in local markets to give to impoverished people in the region. This way, not only would hungry people get more food assistance, faster, but American dollars would help stimulate local economies and enable them to bolster US trade in the future.

Unfortunately, not everyone seed food aid this way, so this week the Oxfam Action Corps has begun paying visits to their local congressional offices to explain the benefits of Obama's proposal and tell their senators and representatives that food aid reform matters to them.

In just under two weeks the Action Corps has visited 26 offices! Including democrats, republicans, supporters, opponents, and potential champions! A special shout-out is deserved to our San Francisco team who had a member-level meeting with Representative Thompson, who agreed to co-sponsor the Royce-Bass Bill, way to go SF!

There are still offices to visit, calls to be made, and petitions to sign so we are not satisfied yet! Get involved today by calling your representative and explaining why reforming food aid matters to you. For more information email actioncorps.oxfam@gmail.com and sign the online petition: here

Highlight Reel 2012-2013

Oxfam Action Corps celebrates its 7th annual training and lobby day

Oxfam Action Corps celebrated its 7^th annual training in April in Washington DC, convening 29 participants from 15 US cities, including educators, nurses, veterans, lawyers, political consultants, construction workers, and people from many other backgrounds.  Action Corps members held three days of training and one day of lobbying, and are now committed to coordinate Oxfam America outreach and campaign activities in their city in the coming year.

Many thanks to all the people who made this possible, including our presenters, training support, lobby day participants, and lobby day logistics support. And most of all our volunteer, trained grassroots advocates! Oxfam Action Corps is a program that is based on the power of people to work together to bring about change, specifically with Oxfam’s campaigns.  Without the amazing collaboration between Oxfam staff and Oxfam Action Corps members it would not have been possible.  


Caption:  Nancy Delaney of Community Engagement orients trainees. (Photo: Brian Rawson)

For our lobby day this year we were fortunate to team up with Oxfam 'Sisters on the Planet' Ambassadors, the Truman Fellows Program, and other allies on our lobby day, for a combined total of 80 visits.  At our joint reception, Oxfam VP Paul O’Brien highlighted the power of this collaboration and the serendipitous timing of the lobby day, with our constituents being among the first to respond to President Obama's Budget Request the prior week. Our supporters capitalized on the President’s request for food aid reform, and called upon Congressional offices to support poverty-focused foreign aid and food aid reform.  In one out of many highlights from the day, the Congressional staffer for Agriculture Committee member Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) flipped through a list of Oxfam petition signers to find the name of the Congresswoman's daughter!


Pictured:  Sen. Feinstein staffperson Mr. Harper (center) accepts petitions from (left to right) Sameerah Siddiqui of Oxfam, Yoshiko Hill and Brook Sinclair of Oxfam Action Corps San Francisco, and Oxfam ally Rich Weiss. (photo: Gawain Kripke)

This year's Action Corps training launched a renewed annual cycle for taking action. Said New York member Jill Mizell,“there are many programs, like leadership fellows, where you spend a year reading about leadership. But with Oxfam Action Corps you actually do it.”  Together, the Action Corps nationwide hold hundreds of outreach events each year, and communicate in their 15 cities to a growing audience of more than fifteen thousand people.


Pictured: Storming the Capitol with panache - Oxfam Action Corps New Mexico's Kalen Olson, Jasmine McBeath, and Kathy Chavez on Capitol Hill with Brian Rawson (photo: Mary Louise Resch)

- Written by Brian Rawson, Senior Advisor, Community Organizer, and Oxfam Action Corps 'head coach'

Meanwhile in DC…

The 2013 Oxfam Action Corps Training has begun!

Pictured:  Oxfam Action Corps class of 2012 on DC lobby day.

After three intense months of recruitment and preparation the 2013 Class of Oxfam Action Corps organizers will assemble this Friday in Washington D.C. to be trained by Oxfam community engagement, campaigns, and policy staff.  These twenty-nine women and men from 15 US cities range in age from mid-20’s to retirees, and come from a variety of personal and professional backgrounds, including military veterans, nonprofit managers, scientists, students and teachers. At the training they will learn all about Oxfam’s mission, the GROW campaign, Behind the Brands, gender policy, and how to effectively engage and lead volunteers in their 15 respective cities across the US.  This trip will culminate on Tuesday in a lobby day venture to Capitol Hill where they will join with Oxfam Sisters on the Planet and allies in lobbying to protect poverty-focused foreign aid.  Our new organizers will serve Oxfam America’s mission for the coming year by organizing community events in their cities, leading local tactics for the GROW campaign and Behind the Brands, tabling at concerts and hosting movie screenings and Oxfam Hunger Banquets with allied organizations, professional networks, universities and CHANGE clubs. Check out the Action Corps Blog, Facebook and Twitter to learn more!

Welcome to the 2013-2014 Oxfam Action Corps Organizers!

As we plunge forth into spring we want to introduce everyone to our new incoming Action Corps organizers! At the same time, we want to celebrate and appreciate the time and dedication our current organizers have poured into their teams.

So let’s give a round of thank you’s and applause to our 2012-2013 organizers — Jessica Shao, Amy Torregrossa, Lance Massey, Amy Luebbert,  Jessica Benoit, Adam Farag, Jen Kash, Hope Berndt, Shannon Brown, Rebecca Light-Sergott, Carolina Garcia, Elizabeth Harper, Kim Kokett, Emma Claudius, Lauren Ordorff, Jasmine McBeath, Kalen Olson, Taryn Fusco, Jill Mizell, Djeynaba Ba, Jessica Buchard, Cheryl Dunn, Lindsy Ray, Jackie Anderson, Shannon Morris, Heather Davis, Kayla Timmons, Melissa Watkinson, Elise Swanson, and Kathryn DeLosh. We hope that you will continue to play an integral role with Oxfam in your cities, as your experience and enthusiasm are invaluable.

All 2013-2014 organizers will be returning to your cities in full force after our Washington DC leadership training — so be prepared for a year of action! Here they are:

California

Yoshiko Hill was born and raised in the Bay Area. She was educated in San Francisco and currently employed as a marketing database manager. Outside of Oxfam, she has worked with local governments and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for various community focused environmental initiatives. She has been volunteering with Oxfam for nearly a year now and is ready to organize for the 2013-2014 Action Corps year!

Brook Sinclair grew up in Vallejo, California which is ranked one of the most diverse cities in the country. She received a degree in Psychology from California State University, Monterey Bay. She currently works in elementary school with developmentally disabled children but is interested in pursuing program management for nonprofits.  

Illinois

Megan Nakra was born and raised in suburban Naperville, lives in rural Kankakee, but loves the city of Chicago. She is a clinical R&D scientist with a passion for policy, but also assumes many other roles which include teaching undergraduate students, chairing events and marketing for the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, and practicing as a licensed EMT. With an eclectic background under her belt, Megan is ready to forge forth and generate waves of solutions with Oxfam.

Kathryn Sokolowski is a native South Sider and has been involved with the Chicago Action Corps for the last 2 years. She is in her 5th year as a high school teacher in a high needs district in the far southwest suburb of Joliet. Issues of hunger and poverty are an everyday part of her classroom, as a majority of her students are low-income and receive free or reduced lunch. She encourages her students to be problem solvers in their communities and further lives as an example by studying policy and community development at DePaul University and tackling problem solving at a global level with Oxfam.

Indiana

Christina Schneider is from Louisville but has moved to Indianapolis for a change in scenery and for an internship at the Indiana Statehouse. She is an Anthropology student who works part-time for a non-profit that is fighting for consumer rights and environmental justice. She worked at a state park last year as an AmeriCorps volunteer and ran political campaigns across the state.  I can't wait to start working with Oxfam to promote food justice in Indy!

Kim Kiser works full-time as the food-production manager at Second Helpings in Indianapolis, an organization which provides 3,400 meals a day to people in the Indy area. This coming May, Kim will graduate with her master’s from the Indiana University School of Philanthropy where she has completed a lot of research related to food-insecurity and hunger. 

Iowa

Aaron Schlumbohm lives in Des Moines, Iowa. He is both a University of Iowa graduate and US Marine Corps veteran and is currently employed in the insurance industry. He has been volunteering with the Iowa Oxfam Action Corps since last September and decided to become more involved as an organizer. He is also getting married this August, so 2013 is looking to be a very eventful year!

Kelly Buffalo comes from the Meskwaki Nation in Iowa and has called Des Moines her home for the past 2 years. She currently attends an area community college, but hopes to transfer to the University of Oregon. Her studies focus mainly in conservation, environmental science, and sustainability, particularly in an urban environment. This is a big year for Kelly, as she will graduate in December '13, get married in November, and lead the Des Moines Oxfam Action Corps!

Massachusetts

Sarah Lucey is from a small town in central Massachusetts, but has lived in Boston for the past five years while she attended Northeastern University. She majored in human services & international affairs and has been focused on global poverty since volunteering with Oxfam. Sarah loves traveling and has studied abroad and interned in Costa Rica, Italy and South Africa. When not traveling or fighting global justice you can find her singing in the university’s Choral Society.

Suad Maow lives in Boston, was born in Somalia, but has been in the United States since the age of seven. She is working in the insurance industry, but hopes to branch out and expand her experience in the field of international development. She discovered Oxfam and the Action Corps last year after attending a fundraiser for an Oxfam-funded project. She is currently studying Arabic and working to gain more knowledge on poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Minneapolis

Jessica Spanswick, a resident of Minneapolis, can often be found riding her bike around the lakes. She was born in California and grew up on military bases around the country. She studied at Augsburg College in Minneapolis for her undergrad in International Relations. Currently she work as an admissions representative for Globe University and is taking graduate courses in business through her employer. She aspires to use her privilege and rights to make this world a more equitable place for all people, animals, and environments.

Margaret Richardson is a resident of St. Paul who has been very involved in her community. She is a parent who single-handedly raised 5 almost adult children. She is an individual who loves bringing people together to work on a problem, campaign, or a party. She is currently a CNA/PCA/HHA science instructor for elementary school children and is constantly challenging her students to be problem solvers.  She has been involved with Oxfam for a while and is thrilled to be organizing for the Minnesota team this coming year.

Missouri

Edna Wijnterp was born and raised in the beautiful Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, but has been in Kansas City, MO since 1999. She has a passion for travel and loves learning about all world cultures and international issues. She is deeply concerned about the devastating effects of hunger, poverty, war, and social injustice. Thus she is looking forward to joining up with Oxfam which she has been following for the past few years.

Joleen Goff has recently moved from Warrensburg back to Kansas City. She has been teaching in the art department of the University of Central Missouri, but will soon be teaching art at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in the community outreach programs beginning this summer. She has admired Oxfam’s work for a long time and is excited to get involved on a deeper level as an Action Corps organizer.

New Mexico

Jasmine McBeath is from Arizona, but moved to Albuquerque in the fall this year. She works at Big Brothers Big Sisters, offering support to volunteers, families, and children. She finds the work extremely rewarding (with the added benefit that it helps her practice her Spanish!). When she returned from her year in Brazil, she wanted to continue learning about development work and low-and-behold she found Oxfam. She has been a leader for the New Mexico Action Corps this past year and we are thrilled to have her join us again this coming year!

Katherine Chavez was born and raised in New Mexico. She joined the US Navy at age 19 and served four years before moving to Hanford, California where she worked as a bartender in a Mexican restaurant. Kathy currently works as a pediatric nurse at the University of New Mexico Hospital. She became involved with Oxfam at the Albuquerque’s growers’ market where after she somehow found herself in a kitchen full of great fresh food and wonderful, fun people.

New York

Sarah Hwang is an attorney from New York City. She has always had a deep interest in international human rights issues, which were her focus in law school. Through past volunteer work abroad, she saw first-hand the devastating impact of oppression, social injustice, poverty and hunger. Her memories and commitment to amazing and inspiring people she lived and worked with are what led her to Oxfam.

Elizabeth Norman is originally from North Carolina where she grew up with her parents on a farm. She moved to Brooklyn after graduating from Oberlin. In addition to working for the City of New York on the healthcare budget and volunteering with Oxfam, she is studying French. She loves to travel, and has had the opportunity to volunteer on a cheese-making sheep farm in France last summer. She has loved being a part of the Oxfam Action Corps for the past year and is ready to take her commitment to the next level.

Ohio

Jeremy Ward has had the opportunity to call a few places his home. However, he has lived in Columbus for 9 years now. He studied at The Ohio State University for International Economics with a focus on agriculture. After learning of Oxfam’s work, Jeremy became interested in the organization which seemed to fit right along the lines of his. He looks forward to leading the Action Corps in Ohio and achieving Oxfam’s mission of righting the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice.

Lydia Bailey lives near Columbus and volunteers with the Ohio State University to protect water quality in the Great Lakes Watershed with the F.T. Stone Laboratory on Lake Erie. She is working with some friends on smaller projects to accomplish goals similar to those of Oxfam in both Bolivia and Peru with some particularly impoverished populations in the Andes Mountains. She is inspired by the goals Oxfam works to accomplish, and is certain that the Action Corps will make great progress this coming year.

Pennsylvania

Information on our 2013-2014 organizers will be posted soon!

Texas

Miranda Birt lives in Austin. She attends school online with Penn State and is majoring in political science but has other ambitious school plans. She works for an internet start-up that leases computers with a specific purpose for building credit, and finds it to be an extremely rewarding job. She learned of Oxfam in one of her international relations courses a few semesters back and she was thrilled to discover the Action Corps in Austin. She is passionate about ending poverty and inequality in the Middle East and North Africa, and that passion has only grown since working in her local Action Corps team.

Lexy Keaton moved from Arkansas to Austin, Texas a year ago. After graduating, she and some friends started a non-profit called 3 Bags in 2 Days in 2009. Since then she has traveled around the United States to share the idea, but finally put up some roots in Austin. Lexy worked for grassroots on the Oxfam campaign, where she fell in love with the organization. She is excited at opportunity to be a part of a great community of people and advocate for the Austin Action Corps Team.

Vermont

Ashley Grant lives in beautiful Burlington, Vermont. She recently worked for the Vermont State Senate where she was involved with reaching out and working with a number of different constituencies to develop ideas into action. She is now a consultant for start-up nonprofits in the area. While Ashley has never personally experienced hunger or poverty, her experiences both abroad and locally have lead her to actively seek lasting solutions to injustice — which she will continue to pursue with the Burlington Action Corps.

Caitlin Lovegrove has lived in a variety of places including Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Romania, Austria, England, Rhode Island, New York, and now Vermont.  After graduating from Brown University with a degree in international relations, Caitlin interned with several non-profits before moving to the for-profit world of marketing. Yet she finds herself once again in the non-profit world, working to improve the digital literacy and capabilities of businesses and non-profits in small towns across Vermont. She is passionate about sustainable food and is excited to work on the GROW campaign.

Washington

Jena Dixon is one of our incoming organizers for the Seattle Oxfam Action Corps. She is a recent graduate from the University of Washington with a major in Society, Ethics, and Human Behavior and minor in Human Rights. She is currently working at Safeco Insurance as a personal lines underwriter. Philanthropy is a huge passion of hers and thus she looks forward to a year full of community outreach and for the opportunity to share in Oxfam’s efforts.

Ruby Mixon-Luecke has been a volunteer with the Seattle Oxfam Action Corps for a while now and is looking forward to leading the team this upcoming year. Influenced in large part by her “hippie” upbringing and other various experiences in her life, Ruby possesses a strong desire to give back and fight against the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice. She is excited at the opportunity to organize for Oxfam in the coming year and is inspired to make a positive impact on a global scale.

Wisconsin

Mariela Quesada is a native of Costa Rica, but currently lives with her husband and her 20 month old daughter in Madison, Wisconsin. She works at the Farley Center on a project called Gaining Ground which assists minority farmers begin and sustain successful farm businesses. In addition to this, she is pursuing a master’s in public health.

Dawn Deransburg is a southern girl born in New Orleans. She has lived in Chicago, Montreal, California, but now finds herself in Madison Wisconsin. She recently graduated from a road construction class and hopes to work in that field in the near future. Her underlying belief that all individuals are entitled to shelter, food, and the right to live the fullest life possible brought her to Oxfam last year. She is ready to build-up and lead the Madison Action Corps this coming year.

Pressure is on Mondelez to stand with women farmers

Yesterday Oxfam Action Corps and staff - joined by the Easter bunny - delivered Easter eggs filled with signatures from more than 67,000 petitions to Mondelēz International headquarters near Chicago, and offices outside of Seattle and New York City.

In a week that will see seventy-one million pounds of chocolate sold for Easter, Oxfam is accelerating its campaign targeting the world’s biggest buyer of cocoa, Mondelēz International, to address unequal pay, poverty and hunger that women farmers who supply cocoa for their products experience.

We also made it on TV! Sorry for the less than stellar quality, but still something to celebrate! ABC Chicago came out to Deerfield, IL to speak with the Action Corps and ended up showing a 20 second segment.

You can help by spreading the word to friends:

- By Twitter:  Love #Easter chocolate? Go #BehindTheBrands & tell chocolate co #Mondelez: respect women cocoa farmers! http://bit.ly/WWb80n 

- By Facebook: Do you love chocolate?  This Easter, Americans will spend more than $2 billion on candy. Yet most women cocoa farmers earn less than $2 a day. Tell chocolate giant Mondelez to follow Mars and Nestle, and respect women cocoa farmers! http://bit.ly/WWb80n    
                                                                                                                                           
Chocolate companies produce ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies every year. Mondelēz is the biggest global buyer of cocoa and wields immense influence over the chocolate industry and the lives of people who grow cocoa.

A recent investigation by Oxfam showed that some women in cocoa supply chains are paid less than half as much as their male counterparts, earning just 2-3 dollars a day for their labor. In one cocoa processing plant in Indonesia a worker told investigators that all of the women employees were fired after they demanded basic rights.

Thank you for spreading the word!