News Photo by Crystal Nelson
Suzanne Jones of Hubbard Lake, Amy Traylor of Alpena, and Crystal Green of Alpena attend the pop-up WAR Chest Boutique Saturday at New Life Christian Fellowship.

ALPENA — An event to spread awareness about and end human trafficking was held Saturday at New Life Christian Fellowship in Alpena.

The event was hosted by the church’s Woven women’s ministry with the goal of bringing awareness to human trafficking. The event included a pop-up boutique, followed by a peaceful demonstration calling for the end of human trafficking.

Nicole Morgan, a member of the women’s ministry, said they still had a good turnout and said the event seemed to be well received. She said a lot of people were honking as they drove by.

“All in all it was a good day,” she said. “We had a lot of good conversations and helped to spread the word and increase awareness, and I think we accomplished our goals.”

The church partnered with Women at Risk International to offer a pop-up boutique — WAR Chest Boutique — on the church’s front lawn.

Those who attended were able to purchase handcrafted items that were either made by survivors or those who are at risk for human trafficking. For every $300 of merchandise sold, an individual can stay in a safe house for an entire month.

Morgan said human trafficking is not just something that just happens in big cities and far away places.

“We have a lot of remote areas here where there’s opportunities,” she said. “It could be a secret here and no one would ever know.”

There were 364 human trafficking cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline from Michigan in 2019, and a total of 932 contacts referencing the state, according to the human trafficking hotline’s website.

Morgan said the women’s ministry decided to become involved in human trafficking awareness because, “we’ve just had it on our heart for awhile.”

She said she hopes people walk away from the event with an awareness, not only for themselves, but for the people they love, that human trafficking is occurring closer than one might think.