Community in Action
When a community decides to take action against injustice or to provide for people who lack resources it usually starts with a rally that makes the news; some kind of public outcry or presentation that gets people’s attention. At some point it moves from an ‘awareness’ of a problem to a meeting that’s focused on solving that problem. Meetings are vital in every avenue of public engagement with a concern or crisis. Meetings move people from emotional reactions to soundbite information to strategic actions based on deeper understanding and proactive direction. And meetings, at least good ones, almost always include food, because people who do anything together to address a large need, must first connect with each other in the most basic of their own needs. As we all know, to relax, to enjoy, to fill our bellies together is the beauty of being human, and the starting point of being a community.
Sex trafficking is one of the most serious crimes in our nation and is producing hundreds of thousands of victims in crisis every year. This is the injustice that is pressing us so severely. The needs of these crime victims are our challenge, and our community is the resource to meet those needs. Caring people, like you, committed to helping the hurting and getting them out of harm’s way carry the critical mission of this community; and Engedi Refuge, as an agency, is the perfect vehicle through which we can accomplish this mission.
Engedi’s spring gala called “Restoring Hope” is the meeting that brings this community together. This beautiful banquet is where we connect with each other over a meal, we connect with the details of the needs through factual presentation, and we connect with the significance of the effort through the testimony of the experienced. This community meeting is where we go from feeling shocked and disheartened by the ‘news flashes’ about sex trafficking to feeling properly informed, motivated and empowered to make a difference and meet this challenge by those who have been personally effected by it and those who are neck-deep in the cause themselves.
The “Restoring Hope” gala is where we collectively go from feeling something like, “that is so sad and frustrating to hear,” to feeling like, “I can make a difference… and I will.” And this gala is one of the ways to contribute resources to the healing work that is already happening and to the increase of that vital work.
We love our community… because you love those who need help the most.