News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Red sand scattered on the sidewalks around the Putnam County Courthouse Friday to spread awareness for human trafficking victims and survivors.
It is Red Sand Project Awareness Week statewide. Willowbend Farms Co-Founder and CEO Sarah McKinnis said the Upper Cumberland has too many people fall victim to human trafficking.
“Pouring the red sand to signify no victims falling through the cracks anymore is a commitment in the community,” McKinnis said. “And so we stand together as a community to do that, but also recognizing that when you are doing this you’re honoring victims as well as protecting them.”
McKinnis is a human trafficking survivor and serves on the state’s Human Trafficking Advisory Council. McKinnis said a study done by the Engaged Together Project and the TBI showed the vulnerability rate of human trafficking in Putnam County is 75.8 percent.
“This is where you do not want a high score,” McKinnis said. “This is saying this is a vulnerable population. In that, it also gave us some recommendations and a lot of that was training to come together as a community to create a support network which I am thankful to say Putnam County is really good at doing.”
Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said he was proud to see the community get involved in spreading awareness.
“I think sometimes it is easy to forget about those folks,” Porter said. “We get busy in our day-to-day lives and they are out in the shadows, so it’s nice to come together once a year and do something in remembrance of all these folks.”
Some people wrote messages on the sidewalk with the sand. One message was “Are You Awake?” Are You Awake is a human trafficking prevention campaign.
