RAISING AWARENESS
Area group helps combat human trafficking
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » The Saratoga National Golf Club ballroom was filled with hundreds of guests Saturday at the annual Cabin Fever luncheon, hosted by Soroptimist International of Saratoga County.
Soroptimist International is a global women’s organization whose members volunteer to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. Founded in 1921, there are approximately 80,000 Soroptimists in 130 countries and territories supporting community–based and global projects benefiting women and girls.
Soroptimist International of Saratoga County is a club within District I of the North Atlantic Region of Soroptimist International of the Americas, Inc., one of four federations with representation at the United Nations. SISC was founded in 1979 and currently has 83 members. Each year SISC raises funds for a number of awards and grants that ben-
efit women and girls both locally in Saratoga County and surrounding areas, as well as globally through international initiatives.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday SISC hosted its annual Cabin Fever luncheon, which provides a platform for attendees to gather, network and raise money to help end human trafficking. Attendees were also able to hear more about human trafficking and other issues from two keynote speakers: Catherine Hoolahan, a staff attorney for a nonprofit advocating opportunity; along with Maggie Fronk, who is the executive director of Wellspring.
“We [also] have a fabulous silent auction [that] has everything from Hamilton tickets to a condo in Florida,” said Cabin Fever Co-Chair Teal Vivacqua, who said the event was sold out with 200 people in attendance and said the group distributes roughly $50,000 annually from this event and from its Secret Garden invite in June.
Both keynote speakers said they hoped to be able to bring more awareness to the issue of human trafficking.
“[I hope] to educate the attendees to the scope of the trafficking issue; everybody knows it goes on, but nobody knows that it goes on in their backyard,” said Hoolahan. “This is such a national issue. Trafficking is now the second most lucrative criminal operation that there is, second only to drugs and it’s catching up.”
“Domestic violence and sexual assault are intricately linked with human trafficking, the power and controls that underlies domestic violence can be used to traffic people also,” added Fronk.
One reason why many guests said they attended the event was to help raise funds and awareness about human trafficking, since they also feel it is an important problem to keep fighting.
“It’s a very dark [topic], but it’s very real, so it’s good to just keep putting that awareness out there,” said attendee Alexis Doyle.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people like to think [human trafficking] doesn’t exist and it’s actually very huge, it’s a really huge issue,” added Soroptimist member Colleen Parisi.