Good News Florida

Place of Hope, Palm Beach County’s largest chil- dren’s organization; the Boca West Children’s Foundation; and other partners are fight- ing to interrupt the recruit- ment of more young people into the human trafficking sys- tem with another weapon – face-to-face education. With a $25,000 grant from the Foundation’s Dream Maker Society, Place of Hope added a Human Trafficking Preven- tion and Education Coordina- tor to its staff. Laura MacFarland’s job is to talk di- rectly to youth about how to avoid becoming a statistic. Additionally, MacFarland is educating and training Palm Beach County resi- dents, Place of Hope volun- teers, corporate partners and other nonprofit agencies on what they can do to make South Florida less hospitable to human traffickers. Lastly, she is implementing ways to reach youth already in dan- ger, giving them access to the hotline when no one else may be able to help. “One aim of the program is to talk directly to girls, ages 12-18, in small groups of five to eight people, using the ‘My Life My Choice’ curriculum. These girls have either been trafficked or are at risk of being trafficked,” MacFarland said. “I talk with them about how low self-esteem, drugs and predators operate in human trafficking, so they can spot when it’s being done to them. Most of the time, this information is something that kids can relate to or some- thing they’ve been through before, and they want to talk about it.” For information, visit www.placeofhope.com Place of Hope Staff to Educate Young People on Human Trafficking Ava Goldstone, an 18-year old young woman who has helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars and vol- unteered countless hours to support children with disabili- ties, has been named the 2018 CARTER Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy, Individual, by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). The CARTER Award for Outstanding Youth in Philan- thropy honors a young person with a proven record of excep- tional generosity who demon- strates outstanding civic and charitable responsibility and whose philanthropy encour- ages others to engage on a community, national, and/or international level. "I feel so fortunate to be recognized by the Associa- tion for Fundraising Profes- sionals for my role in bringing the Boundless Dreams Play- ground to fruition,” said Ava. “Once built, Boundless Dreams will be a hub of en- ergy and excitement for my community." Ava, a senior at Pine Crest School in Fort Laud- erdale, has become a cham- pion for children with disabilities through her work and fundraising for The Mira- cle League of Palm Beach County (MLPBC). The League is a nonprofit that provides activities for chil- dren with disabilities through baseball. Boca Raton Teenager Ava Goldstone Honored with International Youth Award Palm Beach County