The Super Bowl will be taking place in Atlanta beyond the thousands of fans, hundreds of drink and food specials it also brings an increase in child sex trafficking. Major sporting events have become desirable locations for traffickers to bring victims because of the significant concentration of people in the area. Atlanta has one of the highest national rates of human trafficking in the country, with the largest international airport it also unfortunately is a trafficker’s ideal location. Human Trafficking is the 2nd leading crime in the world[1], with an estimated 1.3 million children go missing in the U.S. every year[2]. The SOAP Project will be coming into Atlanta bringing its annual life-saving initiative.
The SOAP (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution) Project was created to not only educate and save but also fill a need. Theresa Flores is the founder of the initiative but is also a survivor of human trafficking. Theresa is the author of The Slave Across the Street, a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller and The Sacred Bath. She speaks out on the reality of human trafficking in the United States and works to allow concerned citizens to help put a stop to human trafficking in their community.
SOAP Up Atlanta will bring hundreds of volunteers together to distribute labeled bars of soap in metro-Atlanta the weekend of January 24-26 2019. The bathroom is a location where victim is often able to be alone, which is why the contact information on these bars of soap is important. 60,000 life-saving bars of soap will be distributed to every hotel room in more than 400 metro-Atlanta hotels leading up to Super Bowl LIII.
Schedule…
9:30 – 10:00 AM Doors Open- Registration & Welcome (Continental Breakfast)
10:00 – 10:30 AM Label soap and create informational folders for hotels (hands on interactive service project)
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM Training Presentation (appropriate for kids 12 and over)
12:00 – 12:45 PM Lunch Provided
12:45 PM Forward Teams head out to hotels to deliver soaps
2:00 – 3:00 PM Return to All Saints
Volunteers can currently sign up to participate in the labeling of soap and the distribution taking place on January 26th. If you would like more information on the Soap Project you can visit their website at www.soapproject.org.
Axel Martinez contributed to this piece.
