Crisis Aid International luncheon slated for January

Crisis Aid International is hosting a luncheon and program to raise awareness for the issue of human trafficking from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 11 at Ray's Plaza Banquet Center in Cape Girardeau.

The event falls on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Organization representative Diana Koskei said Thursday the main goal for the event is to increase understanding about the existence of St. Louis-based Crisis Aid International.

"Our trafficking project covers the whole country," she said. "We benefit anyone who has been trafficked and needs our services. We don't discriminate according to area, race, gender or background."

According to the organization's website, Crisis Aid started by providing 2-pound bags of rice to people in South Sudan, which quickly evolved to serving people in 11 countries.

Crisis Aid also has provided more than 14.9 million pounds of food and served 2.3 million adults and malnourished children, and rescued more than 870 girls age 4 to 30 years old from sex trafficking, the website stated.

Koskei and Crisis Aid volunteer Marsha Edwards expects about 500 people on the day of the event.

"Crisis Aid is one of the few places for U.S. girls to go," Edwards said, stressing the importance of the cause.

Edwards said, "You will find that if a girl is from another country, there is federal money for her to go, if she is rescued. In the United States, we have very few places."

More than 1,000 human- trafficking survivors have been helped worldwide through Crisis Aid International since 2006. Several refuge homes have been established overseas and one locally in the St. Louis area, according to a news release.

"And the people that are coming to be part of the program, they have the specifics and the information to let people know that this is not just a problem across the ocean or other areas," Edwards said. "It's a problem right here in the Midwest."

More information can be found online at crisiaid.org.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632