You may remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned an awesome event going on in Marion to raise awareness about human trafficking. There are 27 million people still enslaved today, many right here in America. Break the Chains Marion was an entirely student organized event to educate people about the current trafficking situation and inspire them to do something about it. I was part of a group of fellow art students called Inspired Minds, and we created some art and installation pieces for the block party. After almost an entire semester of planning, it was so awesome to see everything come together, and the turn out was fabulous. I think everyone who attended had a great time, and I’m honored to be able to say I played a small roll in making this incredible afternoon a possibility. I only hope that this didn’t end when the block party ended, and that people will continue to become more aware of human trafficking, and join the fight to stop it. Enjoy a few (and when I say a few I mean a ton) of pictures from the afternoon…
There were lots of things for the kids to do.
One of the installations. A wall of facts about human trafficking.
This precious girl touched my heart. She sat there and wrote down every fact so that she wouldn’t forget.
Another heart wrenching statistic.
Every year,
the sex trafficking industry
makes 32 billion dollars.
The theme of the block party was freedom. “Free to …” sentences were written all over the block, on the sidewalk, on cardboard boxes, on walls. Here are a few pictures that Inspired Minds created for artwork.
Free to be in a relationship.
Free to express myself.
Free to live in the USA.
Free to choose your own path in life.
Free to enjoy the hobbies I decide.
Free to a make a difference.
There was lots of live music.
And food.
And lots of people came to enjoy the sun and show support.
The big show was the awesome BMX riders that performed.
These brave souls volunteered to be jumped over!
And the entertainment continued.
The craziest backflip I’ve ever seen.
The BMX riders had some competition, though… the bubbles had quite a few kids enthralled!
I’ll end with this hilarious little guy. He saw my camera and decided I needed to get a closer look at the bubble machine. Haha.
All in all, it was a total success. All the proceeds were given to World Hope International’s new assessment center in Cambodia and White LILAC ministries’ new safe house in Marion, Indiana. If you’d like to make a donation, head over to Break the Chain’s website where you can learn more and help those in need.
9 Comments
The photography, of course, outstanding. The cup display was very powerful. And wow, those bikers are amazing! Nice timing on your captures!
Carissa – this is incredible! What an amazing event – the theme, the art, the photography – incredible! What was it done for? A school project? An art class project? A city event? Really great stuff.
And, as always, I love hearing about and seeing it. ;-)
@David outstanding?? wow, thank you!! the cup display was actually the project that i worked on, so i’m glad it affected you. it was all very intense.
@Leah thanks! it wasn’t done for school or anything like that. it was totally volunteer based. people just got involved because they believed in the cause and they wanted to help others become aware. pretty powerful stuff.
well written blog. Im glad that I could find more info on this. thanks
Just want to say what a great blog you got here!
I’ve been around for quite a lot of time, but finally decided to show my appreciation of your work!
Thumbs up, and keep it going!
Cheers
Christian, Satellite Direct Tv
Hey Carissa!
Just wanted to say that I absolutely loved all of these pictures.
You’re so gifted! I let Amy Yoder & Lexi Griffin (two of the girls that put on the event) know about your blog. I don’t know if you guys were in contact but know that they would love to have these pictures!
Really great, perfectly captured the event!
Carissa,
Alicia Wines showed me these pictures. I was one of the ones who had a hand in the event…these pictures are SO amazing. I am so impressed. Every picture tells a story and I’m so happy to see these! Thanks so much. It means a lot for you to take these!
God bless :)
-Amy
Thank you so much Amy and Alicia!! It was my pleasure to take them. If you need them for anything, just let me know :)
Couldn’t be written any better. Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!