Scott O’Brien
Reporter
400,000 kids are trafficked in the United States each year. Pura Vida for Children will be hosting an assembly on December 10th during A and B period to raise awareness about child sex trafficking. This assembly will be led by Love146, a non- profit organization made up of modern-day abolitionists who are taking a strong stand to end child sex trafficking.
Pura Vida supports Love146 by spreading awareness and by raising money through their annual dodgeball tournament. The sale of Pura Vida t-shirts and private donations also help the cause. Last year, the dodgeball tournament alone raised close to 3,000 dollars for Love146. Pura Vida for Children donates about 20,000 dollars to each of the organizations they sponsor: Love 146, Roblealto in Costa Rica, and The Good Shepherd orphanage in Ghana.
When founder Sharon Knechtle first discovered the horrors of child sex trafficking 5 years ago, she was shocked to see the lack of support for the children. “We need to do something about this. It has been said that it is the responsibility of those of us who are free, to fight for those who are not,” she said. “Because it’s a disturbing issue and reality in the world it would be very callous of us to look the other way.”
The main goal of the assembly is to spread awareness to students. Senior leader Lexi Sorbara said attending the assembly would be a valuable experience. “The statistic that two children per minute are trafficked for sexual exploitation should be reason enough for any kid to attend the assembly,” she said.
Junior leader Kate Mannelly also promoted the assembly to students. “Some issues are too important to turn a blind eye to, and I think this assembly will be an eye opening experience for a lot of students,” she said.
Pura Vida members are anticipating all sorts of different responses from students and faculty, and they are hoping that the experience will motivate them to help the cause and get involved. “I’m expecting that students will be very moved by this assembly,” senior leader Morgan Boniface said. “I think that people will want to help stop this horrible thing.”
Junior leader Elizabeth Lewis shared Morgan’s views. “[Child sex trafficking] is not just, and I expect kids to be disgusted, shocked, and hopefully moved to a point where they begin to take action,” she said.
Sharon Knechtle broke it down to a simple message, “Imagine if it were you or one of your loved ones. Wouldn’t you want to do something about it?” she said.
