A fight to end extreme poverty and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Kentuckians take their activism to the nation’s capital.

On a mission to ensure America renews it’s contribution to the Global Fund, Moksha Sommer and her husband Jemal Hines took their message from Morgantown, Kentucky to Washington DC.

“Our main aim is ending extreme poverty by the year 2030. We feel the need to protect the lives of millions of innocent people and aid them when they are in a place where they simply don’t have the empowerment or the means to sustain themselves,” said Sommer.

“AIDS/HIV, malaria, TB, it is still a crisis. It’s not in the news as it once was,” said Hines.

The Kentucky couple lobby on behalf of the ONE campaign – an international non-partisan non-profit that fights severe poverty, HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in the developing world. Their Congressman, Brett Guthrie, says the word lobby is often associated with paid lobbyists for large corporations and interest groups but when people travel from his district to the nation’s capital, that too gets his attention.

“The most effective people that come and lobby are people from your districts, they come to Washington DC. The First Amendment says you have the right to petition your government and that’s what they are doing. They are sincere. They are passionate,” said Guthrie, a Republican who has represented the 2^nd Congressional district for a decade.

The group’s main goal is to see members of Congress like Guthrie vote to renew America’s contribution to the Global Fund. Guthrie didn’t make any firm commitment but has supported similar foreign aid initiatives in the past. He says if the western world pulls out of these types of programs, other countries will fill the void.

The ONE Campaign is asking for $1.56 billion. They argue it is just a third of what the Global Fund is seeking to raise around the world.

“We always need to spend money wisely but I think it’s wise to spend money in Africa and not cede that continent to China,” said Guthrie.

The Fund’s replenishment conference will take place in October in France. The US would need to make their pledge before then.

The funding would come through the State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill, which has yet to be drafted. The ONE Campaign says the Global Fund has long been responsible for saving millions of lives.