YouTube announcement in advance of The Big Game
Fund created to benefit work of Scalabrini International Migration Network
First $100,000 to be matched by anonymous donor
NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Gabriela Isler, Miss Universe 2013 and Founder and President of the Universe of Blessings Fund, and Patrick Gage, anti-trafficking advocate and member of the Carlson family which owns hotel brands like Radisson and Country Inn & Suites, have released a video announcing the creation of a fund to combat human trafficking in advance of The Big Game. The video is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=set9gnugQE8
Gabriela chose to film her statement at a Country Inn in San Carlos, California, to highlight the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group's impact as an industry leader in combatting human trafficking.
"Today, as you cheer on your favorite team," Gabriela says in the video, "20.9 million men, women, and children are trapped in modern-day slavery as victims of human trafficking. In the time it takes to run a single football play, another person joins their ranks."
Targeting the Big Game's vast audience, the video reminds all Americans of the existence of human trafficking throughout the world, including in the United States.
"And this plague knows no borders: 60,000 trafficking victims live in America," Ms. Isler states.
In the video, Patrick Gage, anti-trafficking advocate and advisory member of the board of the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN), announces the creation of the Scalabrinian Action Fund to End Trafficking, or SAFETY. SIMN operates 270 facilities across the globe in service to migrants, including victims of human trafficking. Pope Francis has publicly thanked the Scalabrini fathers and sisters who become "migrants with migrants" and defend them from "merchants of human flesh."
"Gabriela and I are proud to join SIMN in establishing this fund, proceeds of which will go towards fighting what Pope Francis has called a 'crime against humanity,'" Gage says. Contributions can be made to SAFETY at http://www.simn-global.org/donate.php
In recognition of the important need in this area, an anonymous donor has agreed to match donations to the fund up to $100,000.
"Every little bit helps," Gage concludes. "The money you spend on a party for the Big Game this weekend might just save a victim of human trafficking."
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SOURCE SIMN Global
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