Benefit Concert to Support Victims of Human Trafficking

Unificationists from the WestRock Family Church (Westchester and Rockland counties of New York) are planning a night of music for a good cause. The “Stand for Humanity” concert will feature the New Jersey band Sail the Boat; Quarter Royce, led by Unificationist Jeremy Kitchens; and Vinyl Canvas, an up-and-coming band from New York City, and will raise money to support victims of human trafficking.

 

The organizer, Justin Okamoto, was so moved by a documentary about sex trafficking that he felt called to do something about it. “Knowing the value that each human being has and seeing how they are just used as commodities brought me to tears,” he said. “It took me a while to start a project, but those thoughts never left me.”

It is estimated that about 21 million people around the world are being trafficked, making this modern form of slavery the largest in history. Trafficking victims, a large percentage of whom are children, are subjected to forced labor, most frequently within the commercial sex industry. Human trafficking is a worldwide problem, and occurs even in developed nations like the United States.

Justin realizes that this issue won’t be solved by one concert, but he hopes that the event will be a small step in the direction of awareness, something that can start to shift the cultural perspective. He said: “Music has the power to change people’s thoughts and the power to grab people’s attention. Using music, a source of beauty, just seemed like a perfect fit.” He continued, “The idea is to change the culture that we have now, which promotes objectification of women, to one that stands for the dignity of all of humanity.”

The event will take place on Saturday, June 20, at the Belvedere Training Center at 723 S. Broadway in Tarrytown, New York, starting at 7 p.m. There is a suggested donation at the door of $5.

If you are interested in contributing, contact Justin Okamoto at okamotomiak@gmail.com or visit the Facebook page.