I am often guilty of forgetting about things once the attention has moved to something else. We’re not blind to the knowledge that people still need help long after celebrities were done hosting specials about cancer or hurricanes or acts of terrorism. We know that things still need to be done. We just kind of, forget to do them.
Secondly, we are not all capable of helping each and every cause that comes along.
We tend to use both of these as excuses. I know that I do. I’ll go to church and say, “I don’t have any money to donate to _________” and then I will go to lunch and order a burger that’s bigger than my head. Or I’ll think, I should definitely give money to that and then I don’t.
When I chose to do Jeanuary I thought that I would use the momentum of Dressember and draw attention to the issue of male trafficking and slavery. It was rough going. In the same way that I’m sure the early days of groups like International Justice Mission and A21 were fraught with having to convince people that the issues of slavery are very real even before you ask someone to help, so was Jeanuary.
I had many conversations with people about how prevalent male sex trafficking is and how men and boys are exploited all over the globe. My friend Charity agreed to wear jeans as well and researched every day for stories and facts that would highlight the issue and underscore the need for awareness and resources.
Jeanuary overlapped with the start of a year long campaign by the organization Restore One. The Give for One campaign is set to raise money to open the doors of Anchor House a group home designed to rehabilitate boys who have been victims of sex trafficking. So halfway through Jeanuary, Charity and I jumped on board and made a team to raise some funds.
January came to a close, but the need was still there. I debated about whether or not we had done enough. I thought that I should give another group a chance to be in the spotlight. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t move on to the next thing. We’d fought so hard to start a conversation that it seemed wrong to stop talking just when things were becoming real. So I decided I would keep wearing jeans. We’d just keep talking and keep wearing pants until we reached a goal that we could feel good about.
We’d already done the “good” thing. We could have called it quits. But why settle for good when you could do the great thing?
Each donation to Anchor House will be a great thing. It will open doors physically and metaphorically to rescue boys. Frederick Douglass, famous abolitionist and writer, said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”. Certainly then it is also difficult to repair broken children. Why not make a place where they can have the chance to heal before they become men?
Beds for male survivors of sex trafficking are less than ten in total without Anchor House. Up to 50% of sex trafficking victims are men and boys. They need help.
Donate even a dollar before you forget. If you have a dollar, give it. If you don’t, tell people about the Give For One campaign and encourage them to donate.
Read more about Restore One and Anchor House
Anchor House, Awareness, boys are not for sale, healing, human trafficking, Restore One, sex trafficking, Trauma