Run For The Rescue

DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine
DC Urban LifeStyle Radio!
DC Events
News
Education
DC UrbanNightLife
DC Urban Sports
Photos
Music
Help Others Find Work!
DC Urban Fashion
Spoken Word
Health
African American Authors
Faith
All That's Jazz!
Art
Jobs!
Stage And Theatre!
Join In!
Contact DC Urban LifeStyle Magazine!
Advertise!
Merchandise
DC Urban Kids
Politics
Archives
Man Scheduled To Run 500 Miles - In Chains - To Eradicate Child Trafficking

Singer/Songwriter Eric Proffitt will run 500 miles in chains beginning August 1, 2009 to raise awareness for human trafficking, a problem that is closer to home than most people think. Proffitt's efforts are leading up to a historic national Stop Child Trafficking Now Walk (www.SCTNow.org) scheduled in over 30 cities nationwide the weekend of September 26 and 27, 2009.

Proffitt first became aware of how people are threatened or coerced into slavery and prostitution when he performed at a United Nations forum on human trafficking in Vienna, Austria. There he learned that as many as 1.8 million children a year are sold internationally as slaves to work in the sex trade.

Deborah Cox SOB'sThat statistic spurred the 31-year-old, who has five daughter's ages 11 months to nine, into action. "When we learned that those victims are in every major city in the world, including his hometown, Victoria, Canada, I saw the faces of my five daughters, looked into their eyes and saw that I could not idly stand by," Proffitt said.

He decided to Run 4 The Rescue with seventeen pounds of chains wrapped around his arms, neck and ankles to increase awareness of the problem, and raise funds for anti-trafficking organizations. He admits running with chains will be painful, but says, "I see it as a very real metaphor in what we have to do as a public to end human trafficking."

He will begin Aug. 1, first running in the U.S. -- from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to the Statue of Liberty in New York -- and then in Britain -- from London to Kingston-Upon Hull.

Many think human trafficking is only a problem for undeveloped nations, but Laura Lederer, a law professor at Georgetown Law Center, says U.S. girls, some as young as 12, are being recruited and trafficked. She is conducting a study of case law on human trafficking and related activities that she expects to complete next year.

"We have known for quite some time that human trafficking is a transnational problem found in almost every country of the world," she said.  Lederer noted that in new studies experts estimate that approximately 250,000 children in the U.S. may be trafficked into prostitution.

Stop Child Trafficking Now (www.SCTNow.org) was founded in early 2008 by husband and wife team Lynette and Ron Lewis, to engage Americans in putting an end to this heinous crime.  SCTNow puts its fundraising dollars toward special operative teams comprised of the most elite retired military personnel who use tactics effective in the war on terror to fight this war on predators.

This grassroots campaign is spreading like wild-fire across the nation and will reach an apex on September 27, 2009, with the flagship Stop Child Trafficking Now Walk-Rescue a Child with Your Sole in New York City and simultaneous events in over 30 cities nationwide. Individuals and teams across the country will walk to raise money for this worthy cause. 
 
Eric's historic run will culminate partially in New York City where he will join forces with the Stop Child Trafficking Now coalition in a rally to be held on August, 16, 2009. Proffitt will track an additional 250 miles in the United Kingdom, where slavery was first abolished by colonists.

"If everyone does their part, says Proffitt, we can put an end to this." 
 
He encourages the Washington, DC community to attend the DC Stop Child Trafficking Now awareness/fundraising walk in Washington, DC on September 26, 2009.
 
For info visit www.SCTNow.org.