C-store Industry Joins Together to Shine Light on Human Trafficking
NEW ORLEANS — The convenience channel is keeping up its efforts to raise awareness around human trafficking.
On Feb. 1, NACS and retail companies Clipper Petroleum, Jet Food Stores, bp and TravelCenters of America (TA) came together in New Orleans for "Linking Freedom," led by In Our Backyard (IOB), a national nonprofit dedicated to the fight against sex and labor trafficking.
"Linking Freedom" was developed to raise awareness of the problem of human trafficking and to help identify missing children in the area. This was the 16th annual event, which takes place in the host city of the Super Bowl and empowers the community, survivors and local nonprofits in the fight against human trafficking.
[Read more: On the Front Lines of the Human Trafficking Battle]
Every year, missing children and victims of human trafficking are recovered because of this collaborative effort, the organizations said.
Traffickers often target major events like the Super Bowl to exploit vulnerable individuals, especially children. "Major events are directly linked to protecting children while celebrating team sports. Together, we can make a difference," said Cheryl Csiky, executive director of In Our Backyard.
IOB created and funded the program Convenience Stores Against Trafficking (CSAT) in 2016, starting with one store in Bend, Ore. Today, 43,300 c-stores in all 50 states work with CSAT and 850,000 staff members are trained to recognize and safely report the signs of human trafficking. NACS, CSAT and Ready Training Online have collaborated on a free online training module, "Community Heroes: C-Stores Stop Human Trafficking."
In addition, CSAT provides "Freedom Stickers," which contain the National Human Trafficking Hotline number, to be posted in restroom stalls — often the only place a victim of human trafficking is alone and safe enough to reach out for help. More than 1 million "Freedom Stickers" have been distributed, mostly through convenience stores and even super-sized versions on fuel tankers.
"The country's 152,000-plus convenience stores don't just sell products and services that people enjoy; they make a difference in their communities and help address important national initiative groups at a local level," said Jeff Lenard, NACS vice president of media and strategic communications. "Roughly half the U.S. population comes to a convenience store every day. Our industry is well-equipped to share important messages in stores so that employees and customers can collectively create the equivalent of a neighborhood watch program in their communities. We are proud to work with our members, CSAT and the top leaders in the community to make a difference in people's lives."
In support of the program, Clipper Petroleum and Jet Food Stores dedicated thousands of dollars through fundraising events, TA provided funding for the development and distribution of community outreach material, and bp raised $75,000 and awareness through its "Community Pump" program.
The annual event was supported by numerous community-focused groups including the Louisiana Governor's Office of Human Trafficking Prevention and the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office.
Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., NACS is recognized as the association for convenience and fuel retailers. NACS has more than 1,000 retail member companies that cumulatively represent more than 200,000 stores in 50-plus countries, including 90,000 stores in the United States.