It all started when my friends forgot when my birthday was and one friend in particular told me that there was no better time to guilt-trip them into doing something with me. So, I decided to enlist them in running a half-marathon and raising funds for Love146.
I first came across Love146 while I was a college student in New Haven and fell in love with the work they were doing. After I graduated, I moved to Philadelphia to attend podiatric medical school. Last August—when my friends forgot my birthday—I organized my first fundraiser for Love146: I ran the Love Run Half-Marathon, Philly’s premier spring race.
This year, eight of us ran the race together and raised $2,213!
Our day was filled with all sorts of love—love for each other, love for running, love for children, love for Love146, and the greatest Love. Each member of my team ran amazingly. I am floored by the results and I am grateful to have people who come alongside me to fight back against trafficking, a tragic and very real evil that plagues our world today.
No one is too busy to go after the things they care about, so when we give into “I’m busy” as an excuse, it really just means that we haven’t made this fight a priority.
If eight over-scheduled and over-extended millennials can get together for this cause, anyone can!
I sincerely hope that each person is stirred to righteous anger and motivated to action when they come across opportunities to stop trafficking. Additionally, I hope we truly allow ourselves to be moved by the children that Love146 helps, protects, and nurtures. There is something deeply amiss about our world and we can do something about it, even if it is simply raising funds and awareness! There are people uniquely called to fight trafficking on the front lines and they need all the support they can get.
So let’s continue to engage each other, to fundraise, and to raise awareness in order to do our due diligence of creating a world in which children are free to be children and are not crippled by the fear of being exploited.
At the end of the day, this is not a fool’s errand. It is an audacious fight to change the world.
This fight starts with ordinary people like you and me caring, and then doing something about it. I believe in the power of love to bring about sustainable change and I hope you do too.
I leave you with this wise and motivational quote by Theodore Roosevelt: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Lace up those sneakers and start treading on trafficking!
