Our Beginning
Founder, Ronald L. Stockton
In 2013 I owned First Fidelity of the Triad here in Lexington, NC. In June of that year, I was diagnosed with cancer. This forced me into retirement. The last seven years have been a battle but I am now in remission, 70 years old, and getting better. Now that I am able to work again I have decided that I need to do something to help people. I have felt for some time that I would like to do something for children. So while down with sickness I began to study to see what I could do. I noticed a lot of kids reported as missing but no reason why. I began to research this and found a very disturbing thing. Human Trafficking is where a lot of these kids are. I dug deeper and found that it is much bigger than I thought. 40.3 million slaves in trafficking. Fifty – three Trillion dollar industry if you want to call it that. I also noticed that these traffickers are bolder every day, even stealing kids out of parents’ arms. Then as I dug deeper I found some of the things these criminals are doing to these kids. I thought I had a strong constitution but I was wrong. One film I saw literally made me sick.
The cruelty and torture of these kids are tremendous. This has to be the worst crime happening today in this country. I went further with my research and found out that since President Trump got into office, the rules were relaxed and the FBI, Homeland Security, and others have done a better job of going after these kids. and they have saved thousands of them. But with 40.3 million out there the government agencies can hardly put a dent in the problem. Before President Trump, I was told that the laws made it very hard for these government agencies to really be effective. So a lot of these agents left to pursue these kids on their own. More effective without the government red tape. These agents formed 501(c)(3) companies and went to work saving even more. I was impressed with what I found. Most of them are working for little or no money. They live and depend on contributions through individuals and charitable events. This did not impress me. I wondered how in the world could they be doing what they are without proper funding. But once you meet these agents and see their dedication and passion for what they are doing then you begin to understand.
I asked several of these agencies “What is your biggest problem?” and “What can I do to help?” Being 70 years old and not really in good health I was concerned if I could do anything. Their answer was much the same. The biggest problem is money to operate on. If they had enough funding they could be even more effective. One agent told me that if the proper funding was there they could eventually run most of thesee criminals out of the country and have many more in prison. May not cure it but could certainly come close. It sounded like something that I may be able to help with. So I told them my idea and they were excited about it and said that they would support me completely. My idea; I have noticed that the television industry is not doing so well. What I mean is they are running a lot of repeat programming and doing more advertising all the time. Not near as many people are watching television as in previous times. I have noticed that the Postal Service is hurting as well. Movie theaters are becoming another industry that soon will be extinct just like the movie clubs. Why is this happening? Well, it is the computer. More programming than ever before and better than television or movie theaters. Why pay to go to the movies when you can see anything you want at home. And technology has advanced so much that you can have your own theater in your home. Most people will tell you that they only watch television for the news and weather anymore.
I went to people I knew from my business years and got together my old attorney, a CPA, and my tech guy. I told them my idea and they said yes it could be done. We formed a board of seven people and called ourselves Humnan Trafficking Rescue, Inc. We have incorporated and are waiting on our 501(c)(3) to be approved. We are going to do a telethon to help raise funds for these agencies. And we are going to hold it on social media. Our plan is to put on about four shows per year. We are in communication with some colleges and their music departments to help us with the programming. We also are developing a corporate program that should also bring in some healthy revenue. And I am sure that we will use many other methods to raise funds for these agencies.
I must also point out here that once these kids are extracted from these traffickers, they don’t always get to go home. The traffickers mess with their minds to the point of making them believe that this is a normal lifestyle and they are destined to it. So they have to be placed into special homes that can work to bring these kids back to reality. We will be supporting those homes as well.
Ronald L. Stockton
It is our hope that we can get this up and running and bring in enough funds to pay some of these agents full-time wages and build teams that are capable of being effective in stopping this evil. I had one CIA agent tell me just a week ago that this evil is going to get worse because the drug dealers are realizing that trafficking is more profitable. They can sell a drug just one time, then they have to go and get more to sell. That within itself is dangerous. With kids, they can sell them over and over again, at a higher price and it is much safer. Guess we all better wake up and realize that this is coming to our house sooner or later. As individuals we need to start contacting our lawmakers, and become educated on how these criminals work. Then make as big of a contribution as we can to help grow these agencies that can help to find our kids.
Sincerely,
Ronald L. Stockton
Human Trafficking Rescue, Inc.