Wheaton garage sale aims to help exploited children

A garage sale this weekend in Wheaton will raise money for the Touch a Life Foundation, a Dallas-based organization that works to help children who have been trafficked and exploited in Ghana, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Beth Johnson, who hosts the annual sale, says she hopes to raise at least $10,000 to sponsor four of the children helped by the foundation, where her daughter, Rachel Brown, serves as director of development.

The sale is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 10 Muirfield Circle.

Johnson says proceeds from the sale will go toward providing a year's worth of medical, housing and food costs for each of the four children.

Friends and neighbors have donated household items to sell such as clothing, books, artwork, appliances and bedding.

“It's kind of shocking how much we sell every year,” Johnson said.

Some even come to the sale just to make a donation without buying any of the merchandise.

Johnson went with her daughter to Ghana for the first time in 2008, and says it's one of the most meaningful things she's ever done.

“It's overwhelming,” Johnson said. “The experience has opened my eyes to the world. It's hard not to be touched by the lives of these children.”

Johnson was in Ghana last May and said it's fun to see the children who are supported by the foundation growing and thriving, especially after what they have been through.

“The children we sponsor or that we support through this event, some of them are 16 or 17 now so they were probably 8 or 9 when we first met and started supporting them through our fundraisers,” Johnson said. “It's been fun to watch them grow up as they've gone through school and have hopes and dreams for the future. They want to go to college. They have so much to look forward to in life.”

Johnson said many of the children supported by the foundation are rescued from trafficking operations in the Lake Volta region by Ghanaian social welfare services and then brought to the Touch a Life facility.

In Lake Volta, Johnson said, many of those children were sold by their parents into the fishing industry.

“It's hard for us to understand, but over there I think there's a lot of misunderstanding,” Johnson said. “They maybe think the children are going to be well cared for. I'm not sure what they think. Many times they have so many mouths to feed that they're willing to give up their child.”

Touch a Life provides the children with housing, clothing, education and medical care, resources the children may not have had before. The group provides a rehabilitative care center that also includes a therapeutic art center on the campus.

“They've become known in certain regions of Ghana as a safe haven for young children who have been trafficked,” Johnson said. “They have a soccer field and a basketball court and an art center. Art healing is a very big part of their program.”

The social welfare department of Ghana is heavily involved in rescuing the children and handles the negotiations of the releases.

Brown said the foundation focuses more on helping children after they've been rescued. The foundation has found it more sustainable to empower Ghana to create change within the country instead of relying on Western support, she said.

Johnson said the program is very family oriented.

“They are like siblings, so to speak,” Johnson said. “They all become brothers and sisters.”

For details on the Touch a Life Foundation, visit touchalifekids.org.

If you go

What: Garage Sale for the Touch a Life Foundation

When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, June 10, and Saturday, June 11

Where: 10 Muirfield Circle, Wheaton

Info: http://www.touchalifekids.org/