As a service to our community, the Aug. 11, 2021, Sulphur Springs Kiwanis Club program will focus on the huge and growing crisis of human trafficking – including in Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County, reports Jim Thompson. The public is invited to attend the 30-minute presentation beginning at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Fellowship Hall of League Street Church of Christ. (Please use the rear or the west entrance.)
The speaker, Julie Prettyman from Greenville, experienced having a member of her extended family become a victim of human trafficking. She is both knowledgeable and passionate about preventing horrific damage to children and families that are victims of human trafficking for both manual labor and the sex trade, Thompson reports.
For years, worldwide estimates have ranked human trafficking as the number 2 criminal activity, exceeded in dollar value only by drugs. Recent estimates now indicate that human trafficking may now be the number 1 criminal enterprise worldwide, Thompson noted.
The Wednesday Kiwanis meeting is meant to help raise awareness locally so families and children can be on the lookout for warning signs that someone is being targeted.
“Please attend this meeting and help promote the meeting throughout our community verbally and through social media posts so the largest number of people possible can become informed about this very real danger,” Thompson invites, adding, “Prepare to be alarmed. The 30-minute program will end with the opportunity to ask questions.”