City of Columbus, GA declares Micah’s Promise Day and recognizes National Human Trafficking Awareness Month

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Feb 8

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Left to Right: Dr. Kim Glass (Board Member), Sgt Gregory Starcher (Team Member), Dr. Brett Murphy-Dawson (Board Member), Bobbi Starr (Executive Director), Susan Rogers (Board Member), Kristen Jones (Team Member), Northside High School Principal Marty Richburg, City Manager Isaiah Hugley, John House (District 10), and Charmaine Crabb (District 5),

On Tuesday, February 5, 2019 the City Council of Columbus, Georgia declared it Micah’s Promise Day.

This was part of the city’s proclamation acknowledging January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

Executive Director Bobbi Starr presented to the City Council with the visible support of Micah’s Promise board members, long time supporters, and recently trained advocates.

This is community in action.

Among those that joined Ms Starr to speak before the council were several representatives from Northside High School. Principal Marty Richburg and Marketing Teacher Emily Stryer watched proudly as two DECA students spoke about domestic minor sex trafficking. McKenzie and Cheyenne are high school students that have built a campaign to bring awareness and prevention training to their peers. They are collecting “loose change to loosen chains”; bringing Micah’s Promise in for a special evening presentation to parents, kids, and teachers; and staging multiple events on school campus to reach their peers.

The proclamation acknowledges that the city of Columbus acknowledges January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month and February 5th as Micah’s Promise Day.

Human Trafficking Awareness month was created by Presidential Proclamation in 2011 by then President Barack Obama and observed on January 11th. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children is a form of Human Trafficking or Modern Day Slavery and 300,000 American children are victims or vulnerable to Sex Trafficking yearly in the United States.

In 2016, 468 children in the state of Georgia were identified as victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children or Human Trafficking, with over 90% having a history of childhood sexual abuse, 89% with history in the foster care system, and the average age of 14.

Micah’s Promise has been educating and mobilizing the community since 2014 through community trainings, collaborations, and partnerships to address the issue of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. As an official partner agency with the State Human Trafficking Task Force through collaborating and cooperating on a state level using combined resources and shared information to fight human trafficking in our state.

Thank you Mayor B.H. “Skip” Henderson III for proclaiming Tuesday, February 5, 2019 Micah’s Promise Day.

This is an abbreviated video that only focuses on the Micah’s Promise Proclamation. View the full video of the council meeting on CCG TV’s YouTube Channel