Fresh Start Project

Trafficking of Children and The Horrors We Inflict On Our Own

Trafficking of children is one of the most despicable crimes committed in our World each year. The trafficking of children for sexual exploitation is as evil as any act one could imagine. To help comprehend or to just get a handle on what we are discussing we can start out by defining, in a cold impersonal legal sense, just what is trafficking. Trafficking is defined in the Marriam-Webster online dictionary as; “organized criminal activity in which human beings are treated as possessions to be controlled and exploited (as by being forced into prostitution or involuntary labor)”. Forced into prostitution and or forced into involuntary labor is only one thing….SLAVERY! This means trafficking in children is pure and simple slavery and is evil in every sense of this word. Additionally, human trafficking can be defined as; “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring and/or receipt”. We should fight trafficking of all people and especially children. We all have a job to do.

Most of you are not law enforcement in the sense of police, sheriff, State Investigation Agencies or prosecutors. However, you can still fight for children’s rights by becoming active in a local advocacy group. You also can help by donating “Fresh Start” backpacks or duffle bags to 401kids.org. Our foundation 401KIDS Inc. being a 501c3 public foundation, in 2015 first donated 10 pink backpacks to an organization in Wichita, Ks. The “Pink” backpacks contained the items needed for girls fourteen and younger to begin their fresh start to a new life of freedom from trafficking. Now in 2016, 401KIDS Inc. is starting a fresh start project in Oklahoma. We will be supplying backpacks or duffle bags filled with basic items to be given to those girls who have been liberated from the horrors of trafficking. The conveyance of these “Fresh Start” backpacks/Duffle Bags will be Law Enforcement and or the child welfare section of Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

Fresh Start backpacksHere is how you can help:

Fresh Start Bags

As a community, one of the simplest things we can do is to organize and provide those resources so that they are on hand and easily accessible in a moment of crisis.

View more photos in our photo gallery

If your group, or you are an individual, and would like to create a bag, you will find a list at the bottom of this posting with the needed items. Here are a few guidelines:

  • Please purchase NEW items. Yes, this increases the cost. It also sends a message that the receiver I is WORTH nice, new things.
  • Please purchase all clothing items in the same size, i.e. all mediums, or all larges, etc. as each backpack is size specific.
  • Please purchase basic colors to appeal to any taste. (Darker colors work well)
  • Have fun and enjoy the process. What you pick out will bless both the receiver of the bag as well as those giving from their heart. You are truly providing a FRESH START!

Completed bags can be mailed or delivered to: 520 Beagle Cir., Edmond, OK 73003. If you are unable to provide an entire “Fresh Start Bag”, you can donate any amount large or small. Contact us today to make arrangements.

When a child or young adult has been through something traumatic and officers or social workers can give them a bag with fresh clean clothes, hygiene items, a journal or comfort item and a meal, imagine the effect that will have. It’s a small thing but a big start to healing!

14 and younger Girls:

  • Backpack or duffle bag (pink if possible)*
  • 2 sports bras
  • 1 package bikini briefs
  • 1 pair dark sweat pants
  • 1 pair yoga pants
  • 1 t-shirt
  • 1 tank top
  • 1 hooded sweatshirt
  • 1 package ankle socks
  • 1 flip flops
  • 1 deodorant
  • 1 shampoo- full size
  • 1 conditioner- full size
  • 1 toothbrush
  • 1 toothpaste
  • 1 body wash
  • 1 body lotion
  • 1 facial wash
  • 1 package razors
  • 1 hairbrush
  • 1 journal
  • 1 pen
  • 1 $5-10 fast food gift card
  • (African American products)

*Pink backpacks and duffle bags can be easily identified by law enforcement or social services as a 401-Kids donation for trafficked girls fourteen years and younger.