By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – One of Shelby County’s most impactful nonprofits hosted a gala both celebrating an important milestone and raising funds for a great cause.

Blanket Fort Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to serving child survivors of human trafficking, held the Restoring Dreams Gala on Thursday, Feb. 27. The event served as a celebration of the 10-year anniversary of Blanket Fort Hope, and was a fundraiser for the organization and a means to spread awareness of the horrors of sex trafficking.

To celebrate the milestone, the organization is planning to open a Restoration Home designed to provide a long-term residence for trafficking survivors. The home will be constructed on Blanket Fort Hope’s 73-acre property in Shelby County. Along with the Restoration Home, Blanket Fort Hope plans to build additional homes on the property in the future to expand the nonprofit’s capacity to help those in need.

Kim Mashego, the executive director over programs at Blanket Fort Hope, shared what it means to Blanket Fort Hope to be celebrating a decade of serving others.

“This 10-year anniversary means that progress that has been made in combating human trafficking and keeping children safe to prevent (them) from being trafficked,” Mashego said. “It brings awareness to our community about the needs of children who have been impacted by human trafficking.”

Mashego highlighted the organization’s humble beginnings, specifically citing the journey of the organization’s CEO, Alexa James.

“She (James) actually started with a lemonade stand where she would make lemonade and sell lemonade during community events,” Mashego said. “That allowed Alexa to start having income for Blanket Fort Hope but also (allowed her) to share awareness regarding the amount of human trafficking in our community… any event that was going on in the community, she would attend.”

When considering Blanket Fort Hope’s beginnings, Mashego couldn’t help but reflect on the incredible progress they have made since.

“Each year, the Lord has continued to bless (our) efforts to where now Blanket Fort Hope owns 73 acres of beautiful land here in Columbiana and is on the cusp of opening a restoration home here in Shelby County for nine young women who have been rescued from human trafficking,” Mashego said.

Mashego shared that the vision behind the new Restoration Home came from James’s previous experiences with human trafficking survivors.

“Alexa worked with adults who had been rescued from human trafficking, and what she learned is that so many of those adults were impacted by trafficking as young children, and they did not receive help during that time,” Mashego said. “Her vision was to be able to offer services to children to prevent the furthering and the continuing circumstances of human trafficking.”

All of the funds raised during the Restoring Dreams Gala went directly to supporting the nine women who will live in the Restoration Home. Considering that 57 percent of human trafficking victims in the state of Alabama are children, Mashego believes that events like the Gala are huge in curbing that alarming statistic.

“The gala is one of our major fundraisers, but it is also one of our major ways of advocating and bringing awareness to human trafficking,” Mashego said. “Every community and every ZIP code can be impacted by human trafficking.”

Organizations like Blanket Fort Hope, whose humble beginnings came from a lemonade stand, are dedicated to eliminating human trafficking and keeping communities in Shelby County and beyond safe. For more information on Blanket Fort Hope, visit Blanketforthope.org.