O.U.R. and Free Will — How one woman decided to help trafficked children

Fighting human trafficking is a multi-disciplinary effort, touching so many different walks of life and, death actually… We recently came across one author’s experience creating her living will through Free Will and we were touched by her desire to help the children O.U.R. serves.

Excerpts from Annaliese Koltermann’s blog.

“The simple fact that absolutely no one is exempt from this death phenomenon among so many other human occurrences shows us all that we. are. all. the. same. when we strip us down.

But this isn’t a philosophical blog about death. It’s a practical guide about why preparing for your death physically, spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally is a good idea.

A few months ago, I had an opportunity to set up a Living Will for free online using FreeWill. A service for organizing your living Will.

A Will is a legal document in which the individual legally recognizes their wishes upon their death. In the document you can specify what type of medical measures you wish to have in the event that you become unconscious or unable to make life or death choices, what you wish to have happen to your property, belongings, and money, and if you have particular other wishes upon your death; that document legally binds the follow through of those wishes.

Even though I don’t own property, I’m in my twenties, am healthy, and have no intention of leaving any time soon, I still felt it was important for me to set this up in the event that something unpredictable would happen with health or well-being.

I knew too many people in the recent years who had lost a family member who didn’t have a legal will and it made the process after their loved one’s death 100 times more difficult in so many ways.

Again — even though I don’t have an extraordinary amount of things, it still matters to me what happens if I experienced an unexpected death, and wanted to make sure it would be as easy as possible for my family to figure out the logistics.

I had tried other websites to create this document and none actually provided me with all the options I wanted, nor gave it to me for free (which as a millennial is of the utmost importance).

When we get practically organized around our death we protect our loved ones we leave behind. You are not just doing a service for yourself when you prepare for death — you are providing service and valuable care for your family.

Be it material, financial, organizational — your family doesn’t have to guess or scramble on anything if you happen to leave earlier than expected.

My FreeWill document was in collaboration with Operation Underground Railroad; an organization dedicated to rescuing and recovering victims of sex slavery all over the world.

One thing that stands apart in FreeWill’s process was the option to make donations upon my death to organizations I care about.

There was a donation option in my document to allow a percentage of my remaining funds go to O.U.R. in the event of my passing.

O.U.R. is an amazing organization. I keep up with news and volunteer opportunity announcements with O.U.R and I even get text updates on their rescue missions along with prayer requests. It’s incredible to even have access to that and be apart of their mission in small ways.

Many people don’t know this but in the world right now there are more people enslaved than ever before in history.

They work worldwide in rescue and arrest missions, law enforcement training, aftercare programs, partnerships with local governments, and more to end sex slavery in the world.

Last year they rescued hundreds of people (mostly kids) from sex slavery and supported over 3,000 people (mostly kids) in aftercare programs.

This is a devastating problem and O.U.R is doing amazing work toward the solution.

So it was an incredibly easy choice : )

Since I believe in their mission I filled out the donation section of the Will and didn’t think much of it until Alison Goldsworthy (fantastic name, right!?) contacted me for a chat to find out why I did it.

I shared with her how the amazing missions the organization goes on and saves hundreds of people a year from a life in slavery — many of whom in sexual slavery — shook me to my core and inspired me to support their work.”

There are so many ways to help those affected by human trafficking! So if you’re wondering how you can get involved, consider doing like Annaliese did and use Free Will to contribute to children in need!

What can you do? Check out ourrescue.org to find out more!