I spent the majority of Saturday cleaning out a closet. I'm almost ashamed to say I got rid of 24 purses and still have some left! I've had some of the purses for 30 years, however, so I don't feel too badly. And most of them were purchased at thrift stores or garage sales. I also rid the closet of 40 items of clothing -- mostly suits, dresses, skirts, and blazers. The fact is, I rarely wear professional clothing anymore and it was time to make room. I kept about 10 skirts and a couple of jackets and blouses, which I simply transferred to another closet. Then I moved some bookshelves into the closet and found I had room for my rolling computer bag and two suitcases. Sweet. It feels so good to have completed this task.
This afternoon, my husband and I took all the clothing, purses, and some miscellaneous household items to an awesome resale shop here in the north hills section of Pittsburgh. If you are in the area, you really need to check out this place. Why? If for no other reason, because of its mission.
Repurposed is a thrift store located in Northway Mall on McKnight Road in Ross Township. They sell donated items, such as clothing, furniture, electronics, housewares, etc. and all the proceeds go to an organization called Living in Liberty. Living in Liberty's goal is to eradicate human trafficking one life at a time. It is a safe place for healing and restoration and, quite honestly, my husband and I cannot think of a worthier charity to donate our used clothing and household goods to.
Did you know human trafficking is a $32 billion business? $32 BILLION! It is the world's third largest illegal market and America's second largest illegal market -- second only to drugs. Every 13 seconds in America, a human being is trafficked. Stop for a moment and count to 13. Every.13.seconds. Tick tock.
Currently, there are between 600,000 and 800,000 humans trafficked each year.
...I'll give you a moment to let those numbers sink in...
At least 100,000 American children fall victim to sex trafficking every single year. 100,000.
Of those, approximately 1%... one percent... are rescued.
This breaks my heart.
So, today, I did my small part. I donated a lot of stuff... good stuff... to Repurposed. And then I bought a few things. And then I left and I wept.
What can you do?
- Donate goods, or if you're not in the area, money.
- Shop at the store and invite your friends to join you.
- Share this blog post to raise awareness.
- Volunteer. They're always looking for people to give of their time.
- Sponsor and/or participate in the upcoming Liberty Golf Classic on Monday, Sept. 29, 2014 at Treesdale Golf & Country Club. Contact Mindy Camp for more info at melindalcamp@gmail.com or register online at www.livinginliberty.org.
Sharing more of my passion,
Thanks Green Grandma -- more people definitely need to be aware of this problem, especially in the U.S. where we think it doesn't exist. A friend of mine is closely involved with an organization like this here in Michigan, and I've been teaching about the slave issue surrounding chocolate. I understand it's also prevalent with coffee, and it's surprisingly easy to be supporting slavery without knowing it. Part of this comes from just looking for the CHEAPEST products possible, rather than looking for quality or thinking about the REAL costs of something, including the cost of supporting slavery. Awareness is the first key to us making any sort of change, so I'm glad you shared this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to read the post and comment on it, Steve. Yes, fair trade coffee and chocolate are always worth the extra money.
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