“STL Spark is different because we’re just kids. Other organizations are run by adults who have gone to college and have been taught all they know by higher-ups. In STL Spark, we’re just teenagers teaching ourselves everything and using our own special skills to build a foundation for advocacy,” senior Lily Gregory, one of the leaders in STL Spark, said.

Two years ago, STL Spark was founded by Class of 2020 alumni Grace Kirtley as a way to spread awareness and raise money to fight human trafficking.

“I joined during my sophomore year because I was friends with Grace Kirtley and I wanted to be supportive of her. At the time, I didn’t really know anything about human trafficking and I thought it’d be interesting to just learn a little more about it,” Gregory said. “In the past, most would say the topic of human trafficking is taboo. Some would say we’ve moved past that now in the 21st century, but the truth is we haven’t. No one talks about human trafficking or has knowledge about it, but the scary thing is it’s a billion-dollar industry that is happening all around us. It’s extremely important to have an organization like STL Spark and others to advocate for those victims, give them their voices back, and teach others about human trafficking.”

The main focus of the program takes place throughout the months of December and January with Dressember followed by Human Trafficking Awareness month.

Dressember is a worldwide organization that focuses on three steps to ending human trafficking: prevention, intervention and protection. In order to show support and raise awareness for the organization, teams wear a dress or tie for the entire month of December. At Lafayette, STL Spark also offers a one-day-a-week alternative to this called “Festive Fridays” for those who are looking for a smaller commitment.

In addition to the Dressember challenge, STL Spark offers many other opportunities to fight human trafficking through fundraisers and events. This year, STL Spark has partnered with MOD Pizza, Chipotle and Which Wich for fundraiser nights.

In 2018, the initial goal of raising $1,000 was tripled with a final amount of $3,111.49 total. The following year, $14,639.32 was raised, enough to fund two human trafficking rescue missions, which cost about $6,500 each.

This year, however, things look a little different.

“I think COVID has definitely changed a lot of how we went about things this year. It was harder to do a lot of the original fundraising ideas, so we focused a lot more on trying to advocate and just educate people through our Instagram; however, our amazing community still helped us reach our fundraising goal,” Gregory said.

Despite the changes COVID has brought, the STL Spark has found a way to continue to create different ways to effectively fundraise for their cause.

Shannon Worley, Class of 2020, one of the founding members of STL Spark said, “COVID definitely has complicated a lot of people’s financial situations and created a lot of need in our community and world. Because of this, I think people weren’t able to give as much as usual, or they chose to donate to other causes. Obviously, we totally understand this, so we went into this year with a lower goal and smaller fundraising ideas.”

Although fundraising has been understandably lower this year than in previous years, Worley stresses the importance of still acknowledging the issue and fighting human trafficking.

“Human trafficking is more prevalent than ever.  80% of human trafficking survivors lost their jobs due to the pandemic and funding to protect and support them has decreased substantially. Additionally, it is easier than ever for traffickers to transport victims and to lure them as well since internet traffic is so high right now. Because of this, awareness of human trafficking is more important than ever. We want people to know the signs of traffickers online, to recognize when they might see a trafficking victim. We also want to unite our community with a goal of helping others during this time where there is so much division, stress and conflict,” Worley said.

Senior Sophie Arceneaux, another leader within STL Spark, said, “Fundraising has definitely been more difficult this year than previous. We weren’t able to do the Savers Drive because of COVID-19, but we had a team member, Rachel Paese, volunteer to run an online thrift store where all the proceeds go to STL Spark.”

Paese, Class of 2020, decided to run the Instagram thrift shop to help raise money for STL Spark while doing something she loves.

“Thrift shopping is so connected to advocating against human trafficking because you’re choosing an alternative to fast fashion. The idea just sort of hit me one day. I love thrift shopping and I also know how much some people wish they could thrift shop, but I have trouble picking things out,” Paese said. “I have loved running it over break because of the money it has raised for our goal this year and also because it starts conversations of clothing as well as provides a way to do so.”

Although this year has proved a challenge for running the organization, it has also been a challenge for victims of human trafficking to get the help they need.

Junior Naomi Wipfler, who co-runs the social media for STL Spark said, “The pandemic has caused the number of human trafficking situations to dramatically increase. And many places that survivors would typically be able to go for help are now closed or only helping online so they need all the support they can get to be able to reopen.”

The most recent event hosted by the organization was a collection called Change for Change.

Sophomore Riya Parikh, the advocacy chair for STL Spark, said, “Volunteers distributed paper bags with informational flyers to the doorsteps of houses to be filled with change throughout the week. On Jan. 10, the bags [were] picked up and the money will be donated.”

This year, the goal was set in the same place as last year, $6,500, in order to fund one human trafficking rescue mission. On Dec. 24, just two days after reaching their halfway goal of $3,000, the team announced that their total goal was reached as $6,500 had been raised to fund a human trafficking rescue mission. However, the organization is still accepting donations throughout the month of January.

Sophomore Chiara Bouckaert, who co-runs the social media said, “There’s always something you can do to help, no matter how small. Sharing an STL Spark post on social media or donating $5-10 to a fundraiser of ours can make a great difference.”

Members of STL Spark encourage those who are thinking about participating in any events or fundraisers with the organization to try it out to support the cause.

“STL Spark is important in today’s world because often we think of slavery as something in the past. However, today there are over 40 million people around the world who are in human trafficking. Through STL Spark, people in our community grow aware of human trafficking in today’s world and help join the fight,” Parikh said. “Becoming involved in STL Spark is an easy and fun way to spread awareness and help put an end to human trafficking. To do so I would follow STL Spark on Instagram to learn about the upcoming events to participate in. If someone wants to become a team member, I would also join the GroupMe which is posted on linktr.ee/stlspark.”

To find out more about STL Spark, check out their Instagram @stlspark, or to make a donation to their organization, click here.