Release the Captives members form an "X" to symbolize the group's goal of ending human trafficking.

Many think that slavery doesn't exist anymore. In reality, there are more slaves today than ever all around the world - even in the United States. Release the Captives (RTC), a campus club of Gardner-Webb University (GWU), is working to raise awareness about the slave trade here and around the world. The group is dedicated to promoting awareness about anti-human trafficking and raising financial support for local and global organizations that fight it.
"Today, slavery is big business because it's cheap and disposable," explains Mariah Case a junior at GWU who is vice president of RTC. "In 1850, an average slave in the American South cost the equivalent of $40,000 in today's money. Today a slave costs about $90 on average worldwide."
To spread the word about this situation, RTC is hosting a 5K at GWU on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. Registration for the race is $20, and all proceeds will go to fund rescue missions for two children from forced labor in the fishing industry of Lake Volta in Ghana. These rescue missions will be provided through a partnership between RTC and Challenging Heights, an organization which promotes youth and family empowerment and children's rights to education and freedom from forced labor in Ghana.
While this is the first 5K RTC has sponsored, they have held other events to raise funds and awareness at GWU, such as a Human Trafficking Awareness Week, during which they hosted a number of campus-wide events.
"Through this 5K we just wanted to reach out beyond the Gardner-Webb campus and into the community to bring awareness about human trafficking and to gain even more support for this great cause," says Case.
Those interested in participating in the Rescue Race 5K can visit the race website at www.rescueracegwu.com. For more information about the Challenging Heights
organization, visit
www.challengingheights.org.

By April Hoyle Shauf