A special presentation was brought to Carbon County Commissioners during their regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday evening. This presentation was from the non-profit organization titled Operation Underground Railroad (OUR).
Deanna Barlow is a local team lead for OUR and brought the presentation to attention. She has been a member of OUR for nearly nine months and stated that the team is fairly new to the area. Her purpose was to introduce the organization. The organization was formed in 2013 by Tim Ballard, who is a former member of homeland security.
Barlow continued by stating that the organization provides tools to help law enforcement around the world retrieve children that are being exploited or trafficked. OUR largely targets pedophiles and traffickers using tools that exploit places on the internet where children are being sold.
In 2016, 200 children were rescued through the help of OUR. Over the course of four years, 990 victims have been rescued and 443 traffickers were arrested worldwide. OUR often operates outside of the United States due to the skilled and persistent law enforcement provided in the states.
“This is a worldwide problem,” Barlow said.
The purpose of the presentation, which was shown to the commissioners and crowd, was to provide education and awareness in the area to assist in better protecting local children. Barlow stated that this will take form in booths at events such as International Days and local craft fairs. OUR also plans on speaking to businesses and groups about human trafficking and how to recognize it as well as what can be done to stop it.
“If we don’t know about something, we can do nothing to change it,” Barlow stated.
Barlow continued by informing all that OUR’s second goal in Price is events and fundraising. The team in Price wants to bring value to the citizens. Some of those ideas are to bring a clean comedian here for families to enjoy as well as a shooting contest at the gun range. The proceeds from both events would benefit OUR.
Barlow concluded by stating that she needs assistance in the form on sponsors and volunteers. So far, there are eight team members on the Price team. Barlow’s goal is to have around 25 members. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or volunteer, contact Barlow at (435) 773-5811 or email her at jeffdeebarlow@gmail.com. More information can also be found about OUR by clicking here.