Help me fundraise and run for freedom

Hi! We're Eliel and Bekah. And we are not runners.

The only time you'll see us running more than a mile or two is if we're chasing a ball on the soccer field or we're being chased by a life-threatening creature. (For proof, see the above image of the last race we ran). Running 13.1 miles is super intimidating to us both and definitely not something we would choose to do for fun.

Our reason for running the Hokie Half Marathon is not to earn a finishing metal or a sticker to put on the back of our car for bragging rights. Our motivation is the girl who has just been recovered from sex trafficking. But instead of being at a residential facility equipped to provide her the best care and services for her healing, she is sitting in a juvenile detention center as if she committed a crime. This is the reality for too many children who have been exploited.

Sex trafficking is happening right here and now. Yes, even in little ol' Roanoke, VA. Virginia ranks 6th in the nation for the number of federal human trafficking cases. Roughly half of these victims are children. But there are currently no shelters in our state that specifically serve survivors of trafficking under 18 years old.

Street Ransom is seeking to answer this need in our community and state. A beautiful property has been bought, renovated, and prepared, but they lack operating funds to open the shelter doors.

Will you join us as we take our advocacy a step further by running and fundraising on behalf of victims and survivors of human trafficking in the Hokie Half Marathon on September 22?

Throughout the training process our goal is to raise $2,000. These funds will go towards opening Street Ransom's shelter for young survivors of sex trafficking and towards supporting Freedom 4/24 and their international partners working on the frontlines with victims and survivors in India, Uganda, and Thailand.

We're convinced that this is a worthy cause to invest in, and we hope you do too!