Chef Jack Moore
In 2016, the Ohio Attorney General found that an estimated 1078 Ohio children are sex trafficked every year – that’s just children. And in 2018, Cleveland 19 News reported that Ohio ranks fourth in the country for human trafficking. Thankfully, a central Ohio organization is shedding light on this matter with an upcoming event.
Freedom a la Cart, a central Ohio non-profit organization, is hosting the fifth annual Eat Up! Columbus to benefit local survivors of human trafficking. The event is set for Saturday, March 9 at 6 p.m. at the St. Charles Preparatory School.
Eat Up! will feature a team of local chefs led by Chef Jack Moore of Watershed Kitchen & Bar and a mixologists team led by Grant Bain of USBG Columbus chapter. The duo teams will create a six-course meal with complimentary drink pairings, highlighting the talents, creativity, and imagination of the area’s top chefs. The evening also includes a silent auction with amazing prizes.
Last year’s event, Freedom a la Cart raised more than $140,000.
Ticket Information
Tickets start at $150 and can be purchased on www.freedomalacart.org. If you can’t make the event but would like to help, you can make a donation on the Freedom a la Cart website.
About Freedom a la Cart
Freedom a la Cart began hosting Eat Up! Columbus to support its mission of empowering and employing survivors of human trafficking in central Ohio.
More than 1,500 women are arrested each year with charges of solicitation in Franklin County and 92 percent are victims of human trafficking. Some of these women have been trafficked since the age of 13 and have experienced extensive trauma, sexual abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness and poverty.
Freedom a la Cart helps human trafficking survivors develop a healthy life and job skills, which can lead to work opportunities that offer a sustainable and independent future. Freedom a la Cart says they work primarily – not exclusively – with participants of CATCH Court, a specialized docket in Columbus founded by Judge Paul M. Herbert. CATCH Court blends punitive sentences with a two-year treatment-oriented non-adversarial program for rearrested sex workers who are victims of human trafficking.
Bethany Schultz is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com.
