NEW ORLEANS, La. (LBM) – Louisiana Baptists, other non-profit organizations, law enforcement agencies and civilians worked together to reunite 15 missing children with their families in the days leading up to last weekend’s Super Bowl LIX in the New Orleans Superdome.
The effort involved the training of 70 volunteers at Celebration Church, Kenner and the distribution of 10,000 booklets featuring 36 missing and exploited children identified by law enforcement agencies in the New Orleans area. Each booklet contained a photo and information about each missing and exploited child. These booklets were placed in convenience stores as well as other locations throughout the city. As information was received, it was relayed to a call center at an undisclosed location for security purposes.
Additionally, Freedom Stickers (containing the National Human Trafficking Hotline) were provided to convenience stores and strategically placed in public restroom stalls (providing victims of human trafficking with a safe place to call or text for help).
According to “In Our Backyard,” a Bend, Oregon-based non-profit organization that fights against human trafficking, numerous survivors have been recovered as a result of Freedom Stickers.
“The distribution of these books helps raise awareness about the missing children among the public,” said Jonsey Kendall Jones, IOB major events coordinator. “By featuring these children’s photos and information, local businesses, residents, and visitors are more likely to recognize them and report any sightings or tips to law enforcement.”
The Louisiana Baptist Compassion Relief ministry and Southern Baptist Send Relief ministry provided logistical support for housing volunteers at Providence House and feeding those working at the call center.
“As difficult a subject as this is, we were proud to be able to partner with others to help see people rescued out of human trafficking,” Louisiana Baptist Men’s Ministry and Disaster Relief Strategist Stan Statham said. “It’s an important need that we need to continue to pray for and for our law enforcement agencies who are in that fight each day.”
James Welch, president of New Orleans Baptist Ministries, the community ministry arm of the New Orleans Baptist Association, was among those who participated in the training at Celebration Church, distribution of booklets and coordination of food for the call center. He said the effort reinforced the power of people coming together for a common purpose.
“It’s special to see local authorities, non-profits, churches and the community come together to fight human trafficking,” he said. “We can do more together than we can alone. It takes all of us to create awareness and see victims rescued.”
GROWING PROBLEM
Despite some of the strictest laws in the nation against human trafficking, Louisiana has experienced increasing numbers of victims since, surging from “206 confirmed and prospective victims” in 2015 (the first statewide legislatively mandated report) to “1,615 confirmed and suspected victims” in 2023, with a 57 percent increase in just the last year.
Though human trafficking is a problem in the state throughout the year, events like the Super Bowl ramp up at least the visibility of trafficking because of sex slave traders’ exploitation of the lusts of out-of-town crowds.
