Community members gathered Sunday in support of the fight against child trafficking.
Jennifer Hayes, one of the organizers, said the more she learned about child trafficking, the more she wanted to join the fight against it.
“We got more angry the more we found,” she said. “A lot of it I couldn’t stomach. I thought, ‘Why is this happening? Why have our eyes not been open to this? Why is it just now getting so much public attention?”
Hayes and other organizers figured the best way they could help is to raise awareness in the community.
“It’s not just a conspiracy theory,” she said. “This is real, and it’s bigger than we ever thought.”
Hayes figures about 275 people visited Save the Children. She said she had seen criticisms on social media about the lack of masks worn at the event but pointed out that attendance was spread out over five hours.
“We did not have a mass crowd at any one time,” she said.
Several speakers spoke at the event, which saw children playing in the grassy area across from the First Baptist.
One of the most disturbing trends in child sex trafficking, Hayes said, is that victims are getting younger.
“Children from 4 months to 13 are being sought after,” she said. “It’s just atrocious, the things we found out. It’ll make your stomach turn and your blood boil. Plenty of nights I haven’t been able to sleep because of what I’ve seen and found out.”
Other participants in the event included Operation Wolf Eyes, the Polaris Project, Vets for Child Rescue, Share Together Now and the Ethics Project.
“We’re hoping to make this an annual thing,” Hayes said. “We’re actually creating our own organization, Mission Chasah, which is Hebrew for refuge. We just wanted to make our own organization to try and do something more.”