Tri-County News

KAHS selling apparel to benefit Terebinth Refuge victims


Conservative estimates show that up to 300,000 minors are lured into sex trafficking every year. This is not just a big-city problem; it’s happening everywhere across our state. We need to be aware that even small towns and rural areas are being targeted. We refuse to sit back and allow this horrible crime to affect our kids.

HONORS (Helping Others Navigate Options and Recovery Solutions), the English 9 Honors class at Kimball Area High School, wants your help in stopping this horrendous crime. We have an online store where we are selling apparel to make people more aware of sex trafficking and to let the offenders know that we are watching. For every item ordered, $5 will be donated to Terebinth Refuge, a facility in Waite Park, that helps victims transition back to a normal life after being trafficked. HONORS is not profiting from this venture; 100% of the proceeds will go to helping victims.

Please share our mission and the online store link. Together, we can make a difference.

The store link is kimbalfundraiser.flywheelsites.com/.

In August 2018, Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall spoke to the KAHS staff about sex trafficking in central Minnesota. We were completely shocked by the information: it’s everywhere and quite active in Stearns County. Melissa Winter and Mary Ochs (both English teachers and mothers) were rather bothered by the statistics in our small towns, and they decided to let the traffickers know we weren’t standing back and letting this happen to our kids. They came up with the idea of T-shirts to show we are watching. As busy teachers and moms, they just couldn’t find the time to make this happen last year.

Fast-forward to October 2019 when Mrs. Ochs’s Honors class was reading the Declaration of Independence and studying its persuasive language. They, as a class, persuaded Mrs. Ochs to do a project to help others. They found a company to set up an online store and print the shirts, they created the flyer, and they contacted every high school in the state to promote awareness of this horrible crime. We learned about Terebinth in Waite Park and wanted to keep the proceeds local. Terebinth will receive all profit from the sales (the school makes nothing).

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