Courtesy of Katie Robinson
Brooke Johnston (left), Sessions Robinson, Chappell Williams, Caroline Jones, Clarke Gillespy, Murray Dean, Reese Gardner, Sarah Jane Garner, and Mary Harbin Porter will work together as ambassadors to support Lift Up the Vulnerable in their mission to fight human trafficking and hunger in Sudan.
A group of nine Mountain Brook students are leveraging their summer fitness goals to combat human trafficking and hunger in war-torn Sudan.
Mary Harbin Porter, Sarah Jane Garner, Reese Gardner, Brooke Johnston, Chappell Williams, Sessions Robinson, Clarke Gillespy, Murray Dean, and Caroline Jones will work together as ambassadors to support Lift Up the Vulnerable (LUV), a New York based non-profit that prevents human trafficking of vulnerable children and women in war zones.
According to the group’s fundraiser page, they are hoping to work toward personal fitness goals this summer to improve their own mental and physical health while also making an impact.
They have previously worked to raise awareness for their cause through a series of community-based initiatives, including walks, participating in the Mountain Brook Christmas parade, and hosting a fundraiser at Waldo’s Chicken and Beer in Cahaba Heights.
According to the Department of Defense, human trafficking is a crime in which force, fraud or coercion is used to compel a person to perform labor, services or commercial sex. It affects all populations: adults, children, men, women, foreign nationals and U.S. citizens and all economic classes.
“Civil war in Sudan has left women and children extremely vulnerable. With these compassionate youth and our global network, we are committed to protecting, educating, and nourishing 445 children in Sudan this year where war, displacement, increased rates of human trafficking, and food insecurity are affecting over 10 million people,” said Audrey Moore, LUV’s CEO and a Birmingham resident. “As famine descends on Sudan, an estimated 2.5 million people could die from hunger by September 2024. This simply doesn’t have to be, and we’re taking the steps we can [to] uplift children who are most vulnerable to exploitation through our indigenously directed anti-trafficking network.”
LUV describes human trafficking as the exploitation of vulnerability. In conflict zones such as Sudan and South Sudan, which are marked by violence and extreme poverty, the most vulnerable are conscripted as child soldiers, sold as sex slaves, or trapped in forced labor. Children and women are always at highest risk.
“Thankfully LUV is trying to protect the most vulnerable in these areas. With the help of these
girls and their friends, family and community, we can support LUV’s efforts,” said Katie Robinson, LUV’s Regional Ambassador for Birmingham and the group’s primary support. “It is inspiring to engage these young future leaders from our community to know that we are not just improving our own health but also the health and wellbeing of children and youth that we will never meet!”
The teens are aiming to raise awareness and recruit friends, family, and the community to feed the 445 children protected by LUV in Sudan for one month. It costs $25 to feed one child for the month.
To support the LUV Strong fundraiser, visit https://liftupthevulnerable.networkforgood.com/projects/225866-luv-youth-ambassadors-alabama-region-s-fundraiser.
