After Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to compliment some of that consumer spending and give back. One big way you can do that is through my Dressember campaign. Every day in December I’ll be dressing up in a bow tie to fight human trafficking. Last year I raised $5,000, and this year my goal is to raise $10,000 to support prevention, intervention, and survivor empowerment programs.
I’d love to see Giving Tuesday jumpstart my Dressember fundraising and help me get that much closer to my goal.
Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement. In the U.S. alone, Giving Tuesday brought in $2.47 billion in 2020. Rather than focusing on a single cause, it encourages general generosity. Give to whatever cause matters to you.
Throughout my life, I’ve been the beneficiary of people giving back. Most often it was through people’s time and attention as mentors taught me important lessons that paved the way for my professional career.
I’m a big believer in paying it forward, and Giving Tuesday is a simple reminder to support the nonprofits and causes you care about.
Dressember
I first learned about Dressember in 2012, and the idea of something as simple as a bow tie being used as a sartorial weapon against the evil of human trafficking captivated me. Let’s be honest—human trafficking is dark. It tends to be a downer when you bring it up in conversation. That can make it hard to engage people. But something like a bow tie or a dress can spark conversation and allow engagement on such a difficult topic.
Human trafficking is modern day slavery. It mostly impacts women (71%) and kids (89% of sex trafficking cases involved girls 14-17). Foster kids and those who identify as LGBTQ are frequently targeted. Black women make up 40% of sex trafficking victims in the U.S. Notice a pattern? It’s the vulnerable who are most frequently impacted.
I came out of the foster care system and easily could have been a statistic. But I had people in my life who stepped in and served as mentors, guiding me to a better life.
That’s the work I try to do through FounderKids and supporting causes like Dressember.
Let’s make a difference for Giving Tuesday. Join me in donating a few (or a few thousand) dollars and putting a stop to human trafficking.