Or for at-risk children, the poor, the hungry, or for women who are being trafficked? I am not saying that raising money for breast cancer research is not important because it is. Cancer is a disease that has affected all of us in some way and so we all pull out our wallets and give to the cause.

Do you personally know a homeless person? Chances are probably not. The giving of our time and money is influenced largely by our emotion. When we hear a tragic story, we want to help. We will rarely, if ever, hear a story about the struggles of being homeless and hungry. Or hear a story from a woman who was forced into the sex trafficking industry at the age of 11. We don’t know these people so there is no personal tie there.

This month I attended the Passion Conference here in Atlanta. It was an incredible, life-changing 4 days. My eyes were opened when I learned that there are 27 MILLION slaves in the world today, more than any other time in history. This number includes men, women and children who are being held against their will for labor, trade, and sex. That number blew my mind, I had no idea.

Atlanta is the #1 hub of human trafficking and child sex exploitation in the United States. Approximately 495 underaged girls are commercially sexually exploited per month in Georgia. A recent study estimated that 7,200 men in the Metro Atlanta area purchase sex from minor girls every month.

Atlanta is also the poorest city in the U.S. for children - more children in Atlanta live in poverty than in any other city.

There are an estimated 7,000 people just in the city of Atlanta who are homeless.

I am listing these statistics to raise awareness because most of us have no idea that things are this bad, especially in our city.

We need to give our money not just to cancer research but to organizations that help these people. Your time and money can have an immediate effect on the lives of these people. We need to do something. Now.

To see some of the organizations that the Passion Conference help fund go here: http://268generation.com/passion2012/#!/freedom/

Get in touch with me if you want to get involved with organizations here in Atlanta and I can give you more information.