Running for a cause

Diverse group of runners do fundraising race to end human trafficking

A 12-year-old ran across the finish line.

Moments later, his 15-year-old sister put on a burst of speed to pass a college graduate by a hair.

Others straggled in – college students, parents jogging with strollers and even a man on a unicycle.

A diverse community ran and walked in Freedom 4/24’s ninth Run 4 Their Lives race, hosted for the second year in a row at Liberty University’s campus April 29 at 9 a.m. in an effort to raise funds to end human trafficking.

Freedom 4/24 President Tim Spaulding said diversity was one of the exciting things about the race.

“There are definitely people who show up for a competitive race, but most people are just out to have a good time,” Spaulding said.

“There are some people that this is the only race they ever run.”

After the horn sounded, the runners and walkers raced off to the sound of cheers.

But the first few runners turned right instead of going straight, and everyone else had followed.

“A slight hiccup, but, you know, we added a little extra mileage for free,” Spaulding said.

The course originally was supposed to be a 3.1 mile loop, but ended up as a roughly 3.5 mile figure-8, according to Spaulding.

The race raised more than $1,700 from roughly 500 race participants, 25 of whom raised additional funds beyond the entrance fee.

The money will be donated to support the ongoing needs of Christine’s House, a safe home in Uganda for the sexually exploited that provides food, education, medical care and psychological and spiritual counseling.

Race participants had “Stella” or “Harriett” written on their arms, representing two of the girls from Christine’s House.

“When she wrote this name on my arm, I cried,” Liberty senior Elizabeth Whitehouse said.

“It became real that this isn’t just for a mass of people – this is for individuals that have stories and are created in God’s image and were treated as if that image were insignificant.”

The first girl, Stella, was raped as a 12-year-old on her way to school, according to Freedom 4/24’s website. She found out she was pregnant and had to drop out of school.

Eventually she found her way to Christine’s House, where she has begun to heal and has since given birth to her baby boy, Caleb, according to a video from Freedom 4/24.

The second girl, Harriet, grew up with a negligent stepmother, and one day when Harriet was home alone, four boys raped her.

According to the Freedom 4/24 website, she experiences severe back pain thought to have resulted from the assault, but is now being cared for at Christine’s House.

“I thought (trafficking) was really sad, so I decided to raise money and then come run,” 12-year Natalie Shreve said.

This was her second Run 4 Their Lives race, and this year she raised $550 with donations from her church, family friends and individuals from her father’s business.

“It makes me feel good that I have a lot of people supporting me and those girls,” Shreve said.

William and Hannah Curtis, who placed first and second in the race, were also moved to join the cause.

“I’m honored to be a part of this and to help Stella and Harriett,” Hannah Curtis said. “We will remember them in our prayers as well.”

Twenty-five organizations sponsored the race, including the Liberty University School of Communication and Digital Content, The Journey 88.3, Centra and Locked Up Lynchburg.

Joe Spagnolo of Rehab Associates of Central Virginia, another sponsor, said he was excited to be a part of an amazing cause.

“It’s just doing a lot of good, and they’re doing God’s work,” Spagnolo said.

Freedom 4/24 raises awareness about human trafficking and financially assists 11 international and domestic partner ministries.

The name “4/24” means that $24 a month can provide one week of education, two weeks of counseling, three weeks of housing and four weeks of food, according to their website.

The race gave students the opportunity to raise awareness on Liberty’s campus for sex trafficking.

Whitehouse said she had known little of the crisis before coming to Liberty.

“I thought that it happens overseas, but that here everyone just decides, ‘I want to be a prostitute because I can make money that way,’” Whitehouse said. “That’s just not true. There are little girls in this country trafficked, which is heartbreaking.”

In the U.S., trafficking can take the form of domestic abuse from family members or sexual exploitation of foster children and runaways, according to Sarah Finkbeiner, president of the Freedom 4/24 chapter at Liberty University.

“We look on the outside and think, ‘It would be easy to leave in this abusive situation. How do they not see it?’” Finkbeiner said. “But a lot of the time there’s fear, power and control — things that are not physically binding, but that hold a lot more power than chains might, sometimes.”

Does running a race to raise awareness really make a difference? Yes, it does, according to Finkbeiner.

“We cannot change other people’s viewpoints, we can only share what we know,” Finkbeiner said. “That’s what awareness is: saying ‘This is what I know, and this is important to me and I think it should be important to you, so take what you will.”

Finkbeiner said Freedom 4/24 challenges the runners by asking them how this awareness will affect the way they might work with young girls in the school system, for example, or keep an eye out for suspicious situations downtown.

“There’s a lot that can be furthered from you running in a race, but you have to be willing to take it and run with it,” Finkbeiner said.

Students can also get involved by finding organizations to partner with.

A local opportunity is volunteering with Freedom 4/24’s main office in Lynchburg which has ongoing needs for graphic design, communications, technology assistance and event coordination, Finkbeiner said.

Students can also participate in Liberty’s Freedom 4/24 club.

“Our main goal is we want students here to be aware of what’s going on and really praying about what their part can be in it,” Finkbeiner said.

She also recommended researching the issue from reliable sources to stay informed.

“Like any large social issue, it can seem really daunting,” Finkbeiner said. “People can feel like, ‘What is the point? I’m just one person. There are so many people involved in this – how am I really going to make a difference?’”

According to Finkbeiner, even those on the front lines fighting human trafficking ask themselves that question.

But one woman had reminded her that according to Scripture, the angels of heaven rejoice over one person who has found spiritual freedom in Christ.

“We can never be the saviors of all,” Finkbeiner said. “We can never be the saviors at all, but we can affect one person, and that person can affect the next.”