“Freedom for all starts with helping one.”

by Karen Abbruscato, Board PResident

Do you wonder why all of a sudden we are hearing about human trafficking?  Three 

years ago, at a Women of Faith conference, I listened to Christine Caine (The A21 

Campaign) speak about human trafficking and what a big problem it is.  I thought to 

myself what a horrible problem it is but I’m glad it’s not happening here in the USA.   

Next I heard about it at the Santa Clara YWCA fundraiser and started seeing 

billboards around California’s Silicon Valley area.  

Unfortunately, it’s happening right here in the USA, in California, in the San 

Francisco bay area.  Sex trafficking victims are subjected in homes, airports, hotel 

rooms and some massage parlors. Labor trafficking happens in restaurants, nail 

salons, child-care facilities, and in the construction industry.

Many victims of the sex trafficking are teens who don’t have a place to call home.  

They’re part of an unstable child welfare system, they may have come from an 

abusive home, or they aged out of getting support when they turned 18.  When 

they’re on the streets the ‘johns’ find and befriend them.  They are often times 

introduced to addictive drugs, which keeps the kids lured to do whatever it takes to 

get the next fix.  

So what can we do about this horrible problem?  We can be aware and supportive of 

the organizations that help these people.  Reducing the number of vulnerable 

victims would start with a look into the child welfare system and how it could be 

more accommodating for all the children who end up in this system.  We can 

provide more research to train first responders, police and attorneys to identify 

victims so they can be rescued from their dire situations.  We can also take care of 

the victims once they’re rescued so they’re not exploited again.  That’s where One 

Bread Foundation, Inc. comes in to action.  We raise funds for the rehabilitation of 

children rescued from sex trafficking in the bay area.  The victims are in need of 

medical and psychological attention as well as housing and education.  When you 

support One Bread Foundation, Inc. by shopping through our link to Amazon, you 

help a child rediscover their childhood.  

The problem is overwhelming if you think of the 5000 people, in the San Francisco 

bay area alone, who are victims.  But taking it one person at a time we can achieve 

success.  As the A21 organization so aptly states it, “Freedom for all starts with 

helping one.”  Please visit www.one-bread.com and click on the Amazon link 

whenever you shop Amazon. A portion of your purchase will be donated to help one 

child.

Our Focus Is Ending Human Trafficking

BY TISZANDRA SEARS, NEWSLETTER EDITOR & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

“Of the detected victims in 2011, 53% were involved in sexual exploitation and 40% in forced labour... Other forms of exploitation have been found such as forced marriage, organ removal, illegal adoption … and child soldiers.” – United Nations Information Service.

Men, women, and children are sold into a market for sex and labor averaging $150 billion annually. This takes place on a global and domestic scale; in urban and suburban areas; reaching into hotels, restaurants, and on street corners. Slavery is wrapped up in almost every industry’s supply chain. It is tainting the food we eat, the clothes we buy, and the electronics we love. Trafficking of humans is tied with arms dealing as the second-largest criminal industry in the world following the international drug trade.  

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, and deception. Also may include the abuse of power, position of vulnerability, or of the giving / receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of one person having control over another, for the purpose of exploitation. 

As it has been said “No country is immune, and millions of lives are at stake.” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Our focus at One Bread Foundation, Inc. (OBF) is simple – to raise and provide funds for children rescued from sex trafficking in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.  These funds are utilized specifically for rehabilitation purposes including medical attention, psychological needs, education and housing. 100% of the funds raised through supporters like yourself, shopping through our link to Amazon, goes directly back to this focus and cause. We are using these funds to rehabilitate children who have been rescued from this past of sex-trafficking right here in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. 

Let’s together become more aware of these children’s needs; let’s strive to come together and seek a way to reach out beyond ourselves. Our link is only a small step but an effective one. 

Please bookmark our site – and shop with us the next time you shop online.  

“I have the courage to fail; yet the determination to succeed.” - Tony Kirwan

Human Trafficking Is On the Rise

BY DAVID P. BERNAL, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Human trafficking is now estimated to generate $150 billion in illegal profits annually. That is an increase of 368% since the last reporting in 2009. Human trafficking is constantly evolving, and so is our approach. The problem is bigger than ever before. Understanding the problem is the first step toward becoming the solution.

During the financial crisis between 2007 and 2010, the average U.S. household lost 40% of its wealth. As the economy sputtered and unemployment soared, one global industry was doing better than ever: human trafficking. Having grown from an estimated $32 billion in 2009, it is now a business, generating $150 billion in illegal profits every year. It exists in virtually every country in the world, and unfortunately it is growing here in our back yard.

Hopefully, you care enough about our country and these victims which include an increasing number of children to help us.  Thank you for your consideration.

Ignorance & Want

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ADVOCATE | EDUCATE | COLLABORATE

May 1, 2014

Ignorance & Want

BY DAVID P. BERNAL, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Ignorance and Want.  These are the enemies that Charles Dickens referenced in his famous Christmas Carole story.

Yet, there is an abundance of both right here within the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

Our desire is to combat both, and recruit like-minded individuals.

St. Martin de Porres School is one organization that is combating ignorance and investing in our future leaders.  However, the goal of raising $600,000 for Tuition Assistance by June 30, 2014 is a necessity because their students living in North and West Oakland come from some of the poorest neighborhoods in the Bay Area.  The parents of these students, desire the best education for their children - just like you and I do for ours.

By the grace of God, this is our third year sponsoring the STMDP Soccer Program.  So, I am asking you to search your heart to determine what you can do.  If you cannot donate to either or our project, then at least shop with us to enable us to dedicate our profits to this worthy cause. Thank you.