February 5, 2018
On January 28th, the Community Foundation of New Jersey was proud to join other funders, nonprofits, and motivated New Jerseyans at the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking‘s ‘Liberator Awards’ ceremony, and to recognize the work of so many to eliminate this scourge from our communities.
The Coalition recognized the Community Foundation with its ‘Supporter Award’ in recognition of the two organizations’ initial partnership in 2013 to raise awareness about human trafficking before, during, and after the 2014 Super Bowl in New Jersey. For more on those early efforts, click here.
Human trafficking, of course, continues to be a major problem across New Jersey and the country. Our Changemaker Project in this area – dubbed S.O.A.P. for “Saving Adolescents from Prostitution” – supports the Coalition’s grassroots efforts to raise awareness and empowers citizens to become involved at the local level.
“We have been glad to be partners, but it’s always true that for there to be a partnership, there also needs to be true leaders who – day in and day out – steer the effort forward, stick with the issues at hand, stay focused like lasers on what needs doing, and remain undeterred in the face of obstacles – both big and small,” said Margarethe Laurenzi, CFNJ’s Director of Leadership Grantmaking and Engagement. “That is what you have in the leadership of this Coalition […] This leadership – which is all volunteer — makes it possible for the Community Foundation to be part of something bigger and to try to use our voice and reach to engage fundholders and others to lend support to the work. I’m proud of the fact that more than a dozen individual fundholders have contributed to the CFNJ Human Trafficking Fund, adding to the funds our board has approved over the last few years to help the Coalition with various initiatives.”