Act Local, Think Global!

Support Women Farmers
Fight Global Hunger 

Build a Better Food System

Join the Oxfam Action Corps!

www.oxfamactioncorps.org

Advocate in your community on behalf of millions worldwide

Free spaces are available at training April 13-16, 2013  – Apply now!

ð  Are you concerned that the people who grow the world’s food—many of whom are women—cannot afford to feed their own families?  And that one in eight people goes to bed hungry every night even though the world produces enough food for everybody?

ð  Do you want to take action in your city to achieve policies to sustainably feed a growing population and empower poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive?

ð  Are you willing to reach out to others in your community to hold governments and businesses accountable for the impact of their policies and practices on the environment and global food security?

Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization, invites you to join the Oxfam Action Corps, an exciting effort to cultivate grassroots leaders and political change.

Oxfam Action Corps volunteers work closely with Oxfam staff to engage their community and elected officials. We will provide training and support throughout a one-year time commitment.  You'll meet amazing activists, build community, and drive political solutions.

We are recruiting for the Oxfam Action Corps in these cities:

Albuquerque, NM	Columbus, OH	Minn./St Paul, MN
Austin, TX	Des Moines, IA	New York City, NY
Boston, MA	Indianapolis, IN	Philadelphia, PA
Burlington, VT	Kansas City, MO	San Francisco, CA
Chicago, IL	Madison, WI	Seattle, WA

Here is what previous Oxfam Action Corps volunteers said:

“Oxfam Action Corps has given me a ton of confidence… gaining knowledge and being able to speak to people about the issues.”  Amy , Business Operations Analyst, Des Moines

“I liked it, loved it, actually.  I now have a better appreciation for activism and I do believe that it can really make a difference!”  Debby, Graduate Student, VT

"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." – Isaac., Educator, New York City

          Sign-up by February 14 at:

            www.oxfamactioncorps.org

World Food Day Event with Philly Action Corps!

Volunteer with us @ the Rittenhouse Farmer's Market!

Please come volunteer with us!!

Where: Rittenhouse Farmer's Market

Date: Tuesday, July 27th, 2012

Location: Rittenhouse, 18th & Walnut St.

Time: 11am-1pm

We will be collecting signatures for our GROW campaign petition and educating people about the importance of buying locally, and promoting equal food distribution globally.

Please RSVP here! --   http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/439785522727935/

Service with the Sixers!

By: Lindsy and Cheryl

Before their show at the Tin Angel, Oxfam joined Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers as well as Calling all Crows and local volunteers for a pre-show service project in Philly!

Volunteers built compost stations on a vegetable farm with Teens 4 Good at the North Light Community Center.

The farm was on a 1/2-acre piece of land at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Roxborough.  What's so special about it?  Well besides the fact that it's a local and small farm supporting the surrounding community, it also uses organic and sustainable growing practices and teaches these methods to local high school students!

This project was part of Calling All Crows' Green Summer of Service campaign. 

North Light Community Center enables people of all ages and abilities to reach their full potential as productive and responsible citizens through initiatives that support and enrich children, teens, and families.

Calling All Crows partners with musicians, fans, and other organizations like Oxfam, to create change through hands-on service and activism. Founded in 2008 by musician Chad Stokes (Dispatch, State Radio) and tour manager Sybil Gallagher, Calling All Crows has raised over $250,000 to empower women in Sudan and Afghanistan and invested more than 17,000 hours of service in local communities across North America and Europe.

We had such a great time working with everyone and experiencing what maintaining a farm is like.  No one realizes that the majority of farmers across the globe are actually women. 





It's important that we raise awareness about the trials and tribulations they face every day while trying to make a living and keep their family alive.  Together with these local small acts, we can raise awareness and funds to help others, like women farmers in the Sudan, flourish.

Action Corps Training & Lobbying in DC! 2012

By: Lindsy Ray

I hadn't been to Washington, D.C. in almost 10 years, so I didn't really remember what to anticipate... but it was just a short bus ride down to DC and before I knew it I was being taken away by the beautiful lights and fresh air that I felt as my cab cruised through the streets of the city towards my hotel. 

Soon after that I was checking into my hotel room and meeting my new roommate and Oxfam trainee partner for the next 4 days, Taryn, who is a co-leader of the NYC Oxfam Action Corps.  Cheryl could not attend the training unfortunately due to work obligations, but I am so thankful she is by my side this year all the same!

Oxfam America took all of it's new 2012 volunteer Action Corps Leaders to DC to properly train us all, introduce Oxfam (or give a re-fresher course to those in need), and create an amazing bond between us all that will connect us for the next year and help us get through the events and challenges we all are going to be facing until we decide to pass the torch to someone else.
The details of this training are probably very extensive, especially for those reading who are new to the organization, so I don't feel that I need to share every little detail and overwhelm anyone, but I will say that the first word I was asked to give describing what I wanted to get out of my week training in DC was POWER.  Which on the last day there, lobbying day, I truly can say I achieved it.  Here's why...


Getting to know all of the co-leaders for Oxfam America was such a great opportunity to have the chance to meet people from different areas of the country and learn about what brought them to the same place as me. 

We all shared past experiences and worked together to train our 5-minute canvassing hook for grabbing attention to the people around us.  We met all of the staff from the Boston office, listened to guest speakers explain their experiences with Oxfam, ate delicious and healthy foods, and also had some people share a few lovely harmonic songs with us. 

The faculty from Boston gave us many tasks and exercises to broaden our perspectives and help us develop proper skills we needed to be leaders in our own cities.  For example, a last minute impromptu dinner that we all had to organize in just about 2 hours.... food, location, guests, agenda, etc!  It was a great way to see how we acted with others and were quick on our feet to plan an event.  I don't think many of us knew the secret lesson at first, but once it all came together we felt so much achievement and pride in our successful night.

I think what influenced me the most though, was the final day in DC where all of my new Action Corps Leader friends and Oxfam staff spent a full day lobbying Congress to detail innovative and cost-effective ways for fixing how we distribute Food Aid in the Farm Bill.  I never imagined that I would be talking with representatives from the state in their DC offices, it was such a stressful and exhilarating experience all at once! 

It was such a scary rush, I definitely felt overwhelmed, which may have been because I had 0 of my 3 lobby visits booked when I arrived in DC... but by the last day I had booked 2 meetings and finalized the 3rd meeting in the cab ride to the city... I finally grasped that access to power.  And it suddenly became a reality. 

I was given the power to influence a change in my future.  In your future.  In the world's future.  And what's amazing is that people do what I did that one day, everyday!  It really opened my eyes to the differences I could make and how much impact "We the people," actually can have. 

Handing in the petiton signatures Oxfam has collected just in Philly alone, was truthfully the most powerful feeling I have ever felt yet.  Knowing that so many supporters of Oxfam (48,000+ in Philly) are behind me on this journey I have chosen to explore throughout the next year is indescribable.  I hope I can take my training and share it with those who are ready to show their support and love for people and the world around us as well. 

I've learned I can't change and save the world in its entirety, but nothing says influence and inspiration is worthless.  Especially when you have a country full of such inspiring leaders helping you along the way, Oxfam  America's Action Corps!  --


"The important thing is to influence. Influence for the better. Change how people think. Use your talent to flood the eyes of the world with inspiration. Trying to control the world is impossible, but inspiration is infinite."            - Lindsy Ray, 2012                                                           

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