How My Husband Raised Funds for the Fight Against Human Trafficking
As you may know, July 30, 2020, was World Day against Trafficking in Persons. And so, I am taking a break from my normal posts to give you some ideas for ways that you can join in the fight against modern-day slavery and to share the stories of my husband’s own actions for the cause.
When I met my husband Ryan, he had just started a ministry, called the Shenandoah Valley Abolitionists, at the church he was attending at that time. The year before we met, he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money for trafficked children in Northern Uganda, and he was planning another “Freedom Climb” to raise funds for trafficking victims in the United States.
Ryan first became aware of the horror of human trafficking after watching the documentary Invisible Children. Soon thereafter, he decided to take action to do his part to raise awareness and raise money for organizations involved with awareness of the issue, prevention, and aftercare for trafficked victims.
His first endeavor was organizing a charity dance to raise funds for World Vision, and he organized a second charity dance to raise funds for International Justice Mission.
He then decided to use his fund-raising skills combined with his hobby of hiking to raise money by climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and he raised around $7,000 for World Vision for a program that they had at the time for children in Northern Uganda.
He climbed Kilimanjaro in September 2010, the year before we met. When we met in the summer of 2011, he was already planning his second “Freedom Climb.” We actually planned our wedding date around his Denali training schedule, and we went to Alaska for our honeymoon. I flew home alone, and he stayed for a week of training before returning home.
One year later, he returned to Alaska to attempt to summit Denali. This trip was sponsored by his former employer, Intellidyne. And he raised over $5,000 for Polaris (formerly known as Polaris Project). Although I supported the cause, I missed him so much the month that he was gone! A few days before he left, I had miscarried our first child, which made the emotional impact even harder for me. The only frequent form of communication that I had from him was the team dispatches that the tour guide company posted on their website. He promised that he would use their satellite phone to call me on my birthday. It was so good to hear his voice!
And then, late one night, I got a text, which said something like this: “Have altitude sickness. Staying at camp 3. I’m okay.” He had borrowed his guide’s phone to send the text. I continued to listen to the dispatches, and they mentioned in one of them that Ryan was staying behind at 14,000 feet. He had made it to approximately 15,000 feet before he started to feel sick, and his guide team would not let him proceed. One of the guides stayed behind with him while the rest of the team continued climbing. Here are more pictures that he took on the trip.
If you want to see more about Ryan’s Denali attempt, you can view his video here:
When he returned home, he continued to raise awareness about human trafficking by conducting training meetings, lobbying state legislators regarding bills for tougher laws against human trafficking, showing documentaries in the community, and appearing for radio and TV interviews to help make people aware of the issue.
In early 2014, our friend Lisa Beggs found out about Free The Girls, an organization that, according to their mission statement, “exist[s] to help women rescued from sex trafficking reintegrate into their communities.” Free the Girls helps victims of trafficking by providing them with a source of income by selling donated bras in their local communities. Lisa brought the organization to Ryan’s attention, and he made arrangements for her to ask for donations for Free the Girls at the church we were attending at the time. Lisa then set up a permanent collection site at the Uniform Store that she owns in Winchester, VA, and to date, she has sent over 13,000 bras to Free the Girls organization.
So, here are ways that you, personally, can help in the fight against human trafficking:
1) Donate to or raise funds for organizations that are involved with awareness, prevention, and aftercare:
Or any organization involved with the fight against human trafficking!
2) Donate gently-used or new bras to Free the Girls.
3) Become aware of the issue by reading books and articles, watching documentaries, or even reading this information:
4) Learn to recognize the signs of human trafficking. If you see concerning activity, report it to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888.
Although the issue is pervasive and overwhelming in our country and world today, any small action can help.
If what we do helps only one person, then it will have been worth it.
Leave a comment below if you have more suggestions for those who are wanting to take action against modern-day slavery! What have you done to help? And let me know if you have any questions for Ryan.
And, in case you are wondering what he has been up to in the past few years (other than working and being a husband and father), he enrolled in an online certificate in Christian Apologetics from Biola University and just completed the course a few weeks ago. He eventually plans to start a podcast.