Lacing up his tennis shoes in October, Jason Arcemont, board member at Resale with a Purpose in Tomball, will race across the state to raise money and shine a light on human trafficking in the Houston area.
Arcemont plans to travel by foot with a team of supporters from El Paso to Orange as part of the first-ever Texas Freedom Run. The journey will span 850 miles across the state, or the length of about 30 marathons in 30 days. Arcemont said he was inspired to create the Texas Freedom Run about two years ago after learning about the local dangers of human trafficking through an organization that visited his church.
"Kids right here in the Klein and Tomball school districts are being prostituted," Arcemont said. "Kids are being lured on weekends to meet at a movie theater, are being kidnapped and put in hostels. We want to educate [the community] on digital media and using it properly."
Arcemont has raised an estimated $20,000 for various organizations including Love 146, Shield Bearer and Elijah Rising to combat human trafficking. His goal is to raise $250,000 by the end of October 2014 and donate 100 percent of the proceeds to those organizations.
"The big goal here is that one of the groups that we partner with, Love 146, that they have professional counselors and it takes money to get them into the schools to talk with the kids," Arcemont said. "That's our real goal [to] get more counselors, identify problems and take care of these kids right."
Arcemont said his love of running and participation in marathons and Ironman triathlons in the past pushed him to challenge himself with the Texas Freedom Run. In preparation for October, he practices by running about 50 to 100 miles each day. Arcemont said he hopes to set a new world record for running across Texas in the shortest amount of time.
In addition to his efforts to combat human trafficking, Arcemont aids in overseeing the operations of Resale with a Purpose, a nonprofit store dedicated to collecting items and proceeds for ministries within the community. He said he encourages other individuals in the country to give back to their communities by organizing a similar run to benefit the fight against human trafficking.
"Maybe an annual bike ride to raise money—hopefully we spark some other folks to do a Louisiana Freedom Run or something like that," Arcemont said. "When I talk to the running community, [I tell them] to take the concept and provide them with the resources and say, 'Hey, do it in your state.'"
