If my short time with Love146 has taught me nothing else, it’s that I live a terribly excessive lifestyle.

On the way to work, I thought nothing of the $2.12 I spent on a cup of coffee and I didn’t bat an eye at the $2.63 price tag for a breakfast croissant.

Somehow I had managed to spend nearly five bucks before 9am.

Hearing stories every day of restoration in our Round Home makes things like coffee and croissants — things I buy every day — seem pointless. What lasting impact did that coffee and croissant have? None. Who did it help beside myself? No one.

That’s why I’m pumped to hear we’re partnering with One Day’s Wages. The philosophy behind One Day’s Wages is that the money we earn in a single day can do an incredible amount of good in the world.

The Round Home creates a space where girls are not only safe from being re-exploited, but can be empowered to realize their potential. One major component of this is education and vocational training. For each child, we pinpoint opportunities and local institutions that will enable her make a suitable and sustainable living.

The Love146 Round Home is unlike many institutions in that we work hard to create a home and family setting. For some children, this home environment combined with education and empowerment is exactly what is needed for recovery. One of the girls in our home, Amanda, didn't stop running from institutional care until she was placed with Love146 and put in a home study program. She excelled quickly and recently graduated with a licence to be a professional caregiver, able to work in hospitals, schools and other facilities with children, adults and the elderly. Amanda was “rescued” many times, but education was the key to her freedom from traffickers.

“The Round Home is full of people who love and support us. They believe we can reach our goals. They give us strength to stand up and continue our journey. I thank them so much and I thank all the supporters. I love you.”

That’s where One Day’s Wages comes in. They’ve already given $12,463 to our Round Home aftercare programs and they’re looking to match it for a grand total of $24,926. 

Because we agree with One Day’s Wages in that a little money can make a big difference, we’re asking you to consider calculating how much money you make in a single day and giving it to the Round Home.

And don’t think that you have to be a CEO to make a difference. When I worked as a busboy during college, a normal eight-hour shift would bring in about $56. That’s enough for four girls at our Round Home to have backpacks stocked with school supplies. (Just imagine what I can do now that I work with a non-profit!)

Consider joining the girls on their way towards freedom by visiting One Day’s Wages.

In just a few short days one of the most anticipated sporting events in America will be taking place: The Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.  

In American football there is a debate over what is more important in winning a game… a better defense or a better offense? My opinion? I don’t know. 

What I DO know is that just this week, a Giants fan took ‘defense’ to a whole new level. I was contacted by a business owner who is a self described Giants fan and who was planning on going to the Super Bowl this weekend. He said he intended on spending about $10,000 to do so. But a few days ago he felt very strongly that he wanted to donate that $10,000 to support Love146's work instead. His desire to help protect and defend vulnerable children was greater than his desire to see an offensive line protect and defend a quarterback. And that to me…is a HUGE win! 

PS: Okay Patriots fans…let’s see what YOU can do…

Amazed and grateful,

Rob

President & Co-Founder
Follow me on Twitter HERE

This past Wednesday was my first day on the Love146 team. I came into a new office, sat at a new desk and was welcomed by new co-workers.

After setting up my work email account, I found a message from Dr. Gundelina Velazco, our Director of Asia Aftercare, telling me that Remy, one of the girls in our Love146 Round Home in the Philippines, had finally seen justice. Two of her traffickers—both women—had been found guilty of trafficking after a case that lasted over three years.

They face life in prison. It’s amazing to see the work of abolition unfolding—to see the cost of enslaving a person squash the profit. 

That’s justice. That’s love. 

Best of all, Dr. Velazco shared that Remy finally felt liberty from those who had formerly enslaved her:

“Remy said that she is very happy that at last she has justice. She said that she is now more enthusiastic to do what she is doing, like a thorn has been removed from her chest.”

As the newest part of the communications team here at Love146, I knew I’d be reading stories as they happened, but I didn’t know I’d see it so soon.

Moving from Florida to Connecticut, I’m still getting used to how hard the snow and wind blow here. But this poem Remy wrote about her time in the Love146 Round Home has kindled a fire in my bones that no frost can chill:

The Round Home is the reason for my strength.

The Round Home is my family.

I’m cared for when I am sick.

I’m fought for when I am oppressed.

Whenever I fall down
The Round Home helps me

Stand up again and face tomorrow.

Before I often cried and was afraid

But now that’s changed.
I am saved from a dark fate.
I see a light and hope for my future

and other children like me.

I’m sure that I will lead a beautiful life.

This Friday, Remy is experiencing liberty and enjoying justice. I’m strengthened and encouraged by the restoring work of love in this beautiful girl’s life. 

I hope you are too.

I’ll never forget the first time that my youngest son recognized that I was a different color than him. He was about 5 years old. We were sitting on the couch cuddled together with our arms all tangled up. His beautiful brown arm and my very white arm looking like a half baked pretzel. He was just staring at our arms, and I could tell he was thinking really hard.

Finally he looked up at me with complete sincerity, and with sympathy said; “Dad…you’re REALLY white”. He felt sorry for me. It was both a very funny moment and a beautiful one. He was completely innocent, untouched by any kind of prejudice. We have obviously had many great discussions since then. Being a multi-racial family affords natural opportunities all the time.

Years later, I remember coming home one day to find my son sitting on the floor looking through one of our photo books on the life of Martin Luther King Jr. The book was sitting on his lap open to the photos of the Birmingham riots. He sat staring at the infamous photo of people being blasted with fire hoses and attacked by police dogs because of the color of their skin. When I walked in, he looked up at me with the most heartbreaking, quizzical look of confusion. His eyes pleading for an answer…”Why?” His look just about brought me to my knees.

How do you explain hatred and violence to a child, when it doesn’t make any sense to begin with? Just try explaining it, and you’ll find out how the explanations begin to sound as lame and insane as the actual acts and attitudes you’re attempting to unravel.

In our work with Love146 the question of “Why?’ rages daily. Why do people prey upon the most vulnerable and innocent among us? Why are we not doing more to stop the exploitation of children?  Why do we often remain bystanders while so many suffer? 

I wonder if the answer to the “why” questions has to do with love.

In the movie, Midnight in Paris, the character that plays Ernest Hemingway says; “All cowardice comes from not loving…or not loving well, which is the same thing.” Poet Elizabeth Alexander wrote: “What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.”

No doubt that these are extreme times. What we desperately need are extremists. Not right wing or left wing extremists. Not religious or political extremists. But the kind of extremist that Martin Luther King Jr. wrote about from that small jail cell in Birmingham; “So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love?”

I hope we choose love. For my children, and all children’s sake. Even for our own sake.

Rob

President & Co-founder, Love146
Follow me on Twitter HERE

"I determined, at every hazard, to lift up the standard of emancipation in the eyes of the nation...  That standard is now unfurled; and long may it float, unhurt by the spoliations of time or the missiles of a desperate foe -- yea, till every chain be broken, and every bondman set free!  Let Southern oppressors tremble -- let their secret abettors tremble -- let their Northern apologists tremble -- let all the enemies of the persecuted blacks tremble….

...I shall not array myself as the political partisan of any man.  In defending the great cause of human rights, I wish to derive the assistance of all religions and of all parties.

Assenting to the "self-evident truth" maintained in the American Declaration of Independence, "that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights -- among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," I shall strenuously contend for the immediate enfranchisement of our slave population….

I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity?  I will be  as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice.  On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation.  No!  no!  Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; -- but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present.  I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND I WILL BE HEARD."

-William Lloyd Garrison

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the US. Human Trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. From Jan 1st-11th, we’ve be posting daily blogs with inspiration from the history of the movement to end slavery. Our resolution is to protect & defend the vulnerable and to restore & empower survivors. Join us in beginning 2012 by pausing to recharge our spirits as we carry on towards the end of slavery and the sexual exploitation of children.