Here at Love146, we rely on hope and love to build the momentum it will take to realize our dream of ending child trafficking and exploitation. This hope comes from all sorts of sources: from the children we serve, who reinforce every day that we are on the right track. It comes from meeting people at events who are moved by the stories we tell, and who do what they are able to make a difference, from spreading the word to friends and neighbors, to holding fundraisers, like Tread on Trafficking, to making a donation to fund our work. And it comes as well from letters and notes we receive, like this one we are sharing from a supporter, that remind us that we are, in some small measure, a family, bound together by our mutual interest in creating a safe world for all children.
Years ago a friend of mine posted about your organization on Facebook with the note that she wished you didn’t need to exist. I didn’t sleep that night after reading your website and the description of how you began, and where you got your name.
There is something really unique about the way you educate about your cause, something raw and at the same time so loving that attracts me. I don’t know as much about any other organizations to which I donate as I do about you.
In choosing whether to donate to you or elsewhere, It helps that you have such a high rating on Charity Navigator.
Sexual abuse issues have always been important to me. Although I’ve had a very safe life, I’ve always been very aware of how badly people can treat others. In high school I volunteered in an office that served women who had suffered domestic violence. My college entrance essay was about a night that I overheard a woman being raped on a street in my neighborhood and being stopped by those I loved from trying to do something about it. At Oberlin College I trained for a Sexual Assault hotline. The idea of systematic child sex trafficking makes those other versions of abuse seem like a party by comparison.
Finally, I am Jewish, and in Jewish tradition you are supposed to pass on 10 percent of your income. The concept is that the money is not really yours. It comes from G-d and we have the obligation to redistribute it to those who need it more.
The word for this is not charity, but “tzedakah,” which means“justice.” When I think of all I’ve been blessed with, it’s a no brainer to pass on to people in the situations you describe for those your organization helps.
We’re not particularly wealthy, but we happened to just receive a large chunk of money, so we took 10 percent and gave some to you and some to a few other causes.
Please continue what you’re doing. It’s not a feel-good cause like wearing pink for breast cancer, so I find it hard to recruit others to caring too, but I will continue to support you as long as the need is there. I hope the time comes when the need no longer exists.
Thank you,
Arwen
