The WAR Chest Boutique in Wyoming is inviting families to stop by the Boutique Oct. 26 – Oct. 31 for some Halloween fun!
Bring your costumed kids into the Boutique during regular business hours. Staff will be giving out treat bags to the kids and coupons to accompanying adults (15% off one regular-priced item).
Event details:
The WAR Chest Boutique is located at 2790 44th St. SW in Wyoming.
Women at Risk, International (WAR, Int’l) will lead a teen class on the true nature and dangers of human trafficking (Supplied)
By Deborah Reed
WKTV Managing Editor
deborah@wktv.org
Women at Risk, International (WAR, Int’l) has spent decades providing healing and safe spaces for trafficked women. They also work tirelessly to educate communities about the true nature and dangers of human trafficking.
On July 13, the WAR Chest Boutique in Wyoming will host a teen S.T.A.N.D. class for ages 11-17. The class aims to give the next generation tools they need to stand with confidence against the challenges of the world today.
The teen S.T.A.N.D. session will take place from 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and is led by Liz Midkiff, WAR, Int’l Ambassador and human trafficking survivor. During the class, attendees will make a handmade bracelet they can take home with them.
Session cost is $10 and includes the class, resources and bracelet. Due to limited space, registration will close at 12 p.m. on Friday, July 12. Parents are welcome to come and observe the class.
(Courtesy, WAR, Int’l)
Created and designed by Midkiff and Rebecca McDonald, founder and President of WAR, Int’l, the S.T.A.N.D. acronym teaches youth safety awareness (S), trafficking signs (T), age appropriateness (A), that it is okay to say no (N), and determination (D).
As a human trafficking survivor, Midkiff has spent the last several years under the guidance of McDonald and WAR, Int’l staff, healing and finding her voice. Both have been found in telling her personal story and educating youth and adults about human trafficking.
Liz’s story
(Courtesy, pxhere.com)
“The number two trafficker is a fake friend, male or female,” said McDonald.
In Midkiff’s case, she was trafficked by the manager at her place of employment.
“He groomed her,” said McDonald. “He got closer and closer to her, and she trusted him because he was her boss. Then he had her move to Tennessee, away from her family. He started trafficking her, and threatened her family.”
Fortunately, Midkiff was able to escape and call her parents. Her father drove through the night to reach Midkiff and bring her home.
Now, Midkiff wants to speak.
“My passion is to help them find their voice.”
“We have many survivors who want to speak,” said McDonald. “They reach a point in their healing where they want to give voice.”
Having watched Midkiff teach her own young son about safe relationships, as well as share her story with older youth, McDonald is confident in the survivor’s ability to teach and bring awareness to this important topic.
“I’ve seen her grow in her ability to share her story,” said McDonald. “She makes it very kid friendly. We’re giving her an opportunity to do that, and to find her voice.”
(Courtesy, WAR, Int’l)
Midkiff recently left a career in banking to take on speaking engagements full-time.
“Our mission is circles of protection, and we’re another concentric circle around her, helping her leave a career in banking and go into this full-time,” said MacDonald. “It’s our delight to help, see her spread her wings and flourish.”
Child and teen S.T.A.N.D. classes
Midkiff teaches two S.T.A.N.D. classes, one for children ages 5-10, and a teen session for ages 11-17. The messages in both classes are tailored to the kids who attend, offer a question and answer period and a craft.
The child class contains age appropriate material regarding safe relationships, stranger danger, private parts and personal privacy.
The teen class material can feature content around drugs, money, phones and social media.
(Courtesy, pxhere.com)
Midkiff also touches on mixed messages regarding stranger danger and complying with a perpetrator versus consenting.
The number one trafficker, said McDonald, is family.
“Kidnapping is 3% of trafficking,” said McDonald. “Stranger danger is a dangerous message by itself because 95% of the time it’s going to be somebody you know.”
Teaching a child to say no is important. However, our bodies have three different responses to trauma: fight, flight and freeze.
If a child does not say no when faced with a traumatic situation, it is not because they did something wrong, it is because their body shut down.
“To freeze is a normal, actually healthy, response to trauma. You’re trying to be quiet and not bring attention to yourself.”
That does not, McDonald continued, mean you were consenting.
“[The class is] a wonderful opportunity to hear from a survivor,” said McDonald. “It’s very practical, and it’s very age appropriate.”
Your story has power
“When it’s your story, no one can argue with you. That’s the power of a survivor,” said McDonald, adding that she urges Midkiff to speak from the heart when telling her story. “What she brings to the table is personal experience, and experience as a mother.”
Midkiff’s story gives hope, something McDonald believes is desperately needed.
“We need to know that there are happy things to get us through brokenness,” said MacDonald. “It’s very addictive when you see women who have been to hell and back put their life back together, rise up, and do something very productive, redemptive and full circle.”
(Courtesy, pxhere.com)
How you can help survivors of human trafficking
Every $300 WAR Int’l sells in product provides a woman a month in a safe house overseas. If a consumer spends $10, they support a woman for a day in the safe house.
Every size contribution creates an impact, whether via donation or shopping.
Class attendees are invited to peruse the boutique before or after the S.T.A.N.D. event to see all the products made by, or sold in support of, at-risk and rescued individuals from around the world.
For additional questions, email info@warchestboutique.com, or call 616-530-1234 and speak to Joy.
The holidays are a time of shopping for family and friends, but have you ever thought of shopping for a cause?
The War Chest Boutique, located in the Women At Risk, International headquarters at 2790 44th Street in Wyoming, offers an opportunity to do just that. The elegant and spacious storefront displays items produced or supported by women who have escaped sexual slavery or other at-risk situations such as domestic violence, substance abuse, and exploitation. The products include spa items, scarves, cards, bags, and beautiful jewelry made from items unique to their country of origin such as pearls, gems, paper, and nuts.
From its humble beginnings in the kitchen of founder and president, Rebecca McDonald, Women at Risk, International, or WAR Int’L, now has safe houses in 40 countries. These safe houses and related programs work to rescue women and children from the ravages of human trafficking and bring them to a place where they can enjoy job training, education, counseling, therapy, and mentoring. Stephanie Cozzolino, Retail District Manager, shared that recently the organization achieved a grant allowing WAR Int’L to increase the size of their program. Cozzolino asserts their excitement that lives can be restored and dignity reclaimed.
You may be thinking that WAR Int’L is a noble cause to help these women and children in foreign lands, but that human trafficking doesn’t have an effect on your life. Unfortunately, sexual exploitation not only exists overseas but indeed is thriving underground in small towns across America; Yes, even towns like Wyoming, Kentwood, and Grandville.
An estimated 2,400 children are living in slavery, exploited, or sold in West Michigan, according to the U. S. Department of State.
According to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Michigan ranks 13th in the country for the number of sex trafficking victims.
You may remember the recent news headlines when WCSG radio personality, John Balyo, was arrested and convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for arranging sexual encounters with minors. Internet child pornography is an ever-growing industry in our country. According to the FBI, “The new slavery…human trafficking, is the fastest growing segment of organized crime.”
“There is a misconception that all traffickers are men,” states Cozzolino. “It is surprising that women play a growing role in the trafficking and prostitution business.”
Large public events such as the Superbowl have become the largest incidents for human trafficking in the United States. Likewise, Cozzolino states local Grand Rapids events such as Art Prize have drawn similar crime. Many from out-of-town use internet sources like Backpage to obtain children and women for illicit purposes. War Int’L closely monitors these events, participating with groups like the S.O.A.P. project to offer rescue and assistance to those in need.
The S.O.A.P. project works to place bars of soap in hotel bathrooms (many times the only time the victim is away from her captor) with the number for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center imprinted on the wrapper. Aside from large events, intervention and assistance is also offered at bars, strip clubs, and red light districts within the city.
Traffickers are very adept at luring vulnerable teens with flattery, gifts, or the promise of love or riches before drugging them and selling their bodies to the highest bidders. Those victims who are able to escape are left with nothing but scars, both emotional and physical. That is where WAR Int’L comes in. Rescued and at-risk women can come to the WAR Int’L headquarters for protection and assistance. Safe houses offer “safe places to turn crisis into hope, where women can be rescued, restored, and empowered to walk with dignity.”
How can you help? Shop! That’s right, it’s as easy as visiting the War Chest Boutique in Wyoming (or its counterparts in Rockford, MI and Napierville, IL) and picking out an item, made with love by a woman who has overcome darkness and is on the path to independence. One hundred percent of the money from the product made by these women returns to them and their programs. Staff at WAR Int’L are compensated through donations.
Looking forward to the spring, Cozzolino explained that the current Winter Wonderland theme in the anteroom will be transformed into a café, staffed with baristas to make and serve fresh coffee and treats. Please take the time to stop in for a break and peruse the gorgeous products being sold in the name of love.
While donations are always appreciated, you can also host a War Chest party at your home, church, office, or at the War Chest Boutique. Please go to www.Warinternational.org for more information.
Kathy is a long-time employee with Spectrum Health. She has been married for 28 years to her wonderful husband, Duke. Together they have 2 children, Emily and Daniel. In her free time she enjoys volunteering with the Casting Bread Mobile Food Pantry at Kentwood Christian Church, making sandwiches at Kids Food Basket, and leading Ladies Bible Study on Thursday nights. Writing has been her passion since elementary school and she loves to write about how others enjoy what they are passionate about!
