This year, as tax season drew near, I found myself tallying my volunteer tasks, and wondering how I could do more. As I had been involved with human trafficking and sex slavery prevention groups in the past, I always found it to be an impossible cause with no imaginable way to make a real difference. Then I learned about Free the Girls.
Each day, as you sip your pre-work coffee, 27 million men, women and children are being held as slaves around the world, and 80% of those slaves are women and girls. While human trafficking and sex slavery are often considered to be largely international issues, recent events have shown that this issue is one that affects our local community. Many organizations seek to provide prevention and rescue efforts, but few are involved in assisting rescued victims. Thomson Reuters will soon be involved in an opportunity to make a worldwide impact in a simple way.
During the month of April, Thomson Reuters will be collecting gently used bras and camisoles for Free the Girls, a non-profit organization that provides job opportunities to women rescued from sex trafficking.
Participation in the Free the Girls campaign is easy, and benefits many. Not only does it free up some valuable dresser drawer space from a simple act of “Spring cleaning,” but it provides victims of human trafficking with a new hope for the future. In a country where even your previously enjoyed “unmentionables” are worth five times minimum wage, women are able to experience the compassion that results from knowing they are supported by strangers right here at Thomson Reuters.
Sex trafficking is not a “women’s issue.” These victims are someone’s daughter, mother, sister, and friend, and they now will have the opportunity to attend school and make a sustainable living thanks, in part, to our collection.
I hope many, male and female alike, will feel encouraged to participate, if not by donating bras, by donating a small amount of money (“a bra or a buck”) to offset the cost of shipping our donations to the Free the Girls headquarters. Thomson Reuters, through this collection event, will be one of the first Rochester area organizations to support this growing grassroots effort, which brings awareness to this local and world issue. If you would like to collect for Free the Girls, visit http://freethegirls.org/get-involved/help-collect-bras/ or contact me to donate to our drive.
Thomson Reuters shows how much it values its employees by supporting the efforts we care about the most, and I am proud to work for this company for this reason, and so many others. For more information visit www.FreeTheGirls.org.
