Rescue the Girl to host "Artists for Abolition"

A&M-Commerce organization Rescue the Girl, which raises money and awareness to fight against modern-day slavery, will hold Artists for Abolition Tuesday, April 20. The event will start at 7 p.m. in the ballroom of the Sam Rayburn Student Center and will feature an art auction and an exclusive documentary-styled film called "Worth Fighting For," made by members of the organization.

"The film is really a story of four 20-year-olds that had their lives totally interrupted with the issue of modern-day slavery," Rescue the Girl organizer and leader of the Christian fellowship group Chi Alpha, Nathan Cole said. "We were not looking for it, it was the last thing on our minds, yet it hit us at a level that we just couldn't say no. So instead, we said yes, and out of nowhere, stuff starting falling into place."

This will be the first time "Worth Fighting For" is shown to a public audience. Even members of Rescue the Girl have not seen the finished product, and Cole said there are more reasons the film is special.

"The girls that were rescued in India that we spent time with this summer, their faces cannot be shown publicly," Cole said. "But they agreed to let us show that on the campus. This screening is totally unique; it's not going to be like anything else. We've got a surprise ending to the film that's going to blow people's minds, a surprise ending that people are not going to want to miss for sure."

The film will raise awareness of sex slavery in the world, while the art auction will raise money for the cause.

"We have some smaller pieces that we're just going to sell instead of actually bid prices on, and then we have some bigger pieces that people can bid on to raise money," Rescue the Girl member Melissa Ellis said.

All proceeds from the auction and the sale of other merchandise will go toward Project Rescue, an organization that works to rescue girls from slavery in India. Cole said this particular group is special to Rescue the Girl, because they visited Project Rescue on their first trip to the country.

"This time the cash is going straight to a very unique project that we are very personally connected to in India," he said. "May 7, we hadn't been to this place, and we were giving to the broader organization. Now we know the people, the family, the girls, so we get to see dollar for dollar where this stuff is going. We're going back there this summer to take the art."

Cole said attendees of Artists for Abolition will have a new way to connect with rescued girls.

"We'll have a photo booth set up where people can hold messages of hope," he said. "Instead of writing letters this time, because that's a lot of translation and a lot of work, they'll be able to hold a simple message and maybe a piece of art. They'll take a picture that's printed on the spot and glue their face and their message in this book that we'll take to the girls, so they'll be able to see hundreds of faces of students that are fighting for them."

Although Cole admits portions of the event are being organized last minute, he is confident enough people can make a significant difference.

"We're hoping several girls will be rescued," he said. "It's going to be a creative way that shows with every piece of art bought, t-shirt, bags, buttons, all kinds of stuff, 100 percent of that will go toward rescuing girls from brothels in India. Every time $780 is raised, which is a year of aftercare, we'll be setting another girl free."