ROCKY RIVER, Ohio — Ohio ranks in the top ten when it comes to human trafficking, according to Ohio's Attorney General. However, two teens in Rocky River are making it their mission to help those who are victims of human trafficking.
Lutheran West High School freshman Katie Perkins said she has always wanted to help others. She said when she was little, she did fundraising work for a child advocacy group.
When she moved to Rocky River, she said she looked for something new. Perkins founded Dressember at Lutheran West, which utilizes fashion and creativity to help end human trafficking.
Perkins took a trip to Guatemala in 2021, which is when she said she realized how huge human trafficking is. However, during her trip, she was able to see the work done by the Dressember organization to help human trafficking victims.
“So sweatshops also a lot of sexual traffic, trafficking, especially [in] Guatemala, that was one of the main things there," Perkins said.
This year, she decided to raise $15,000 for the fundraiser and enlisted her friend, sophomore Gabby Mendat, to help her.
"She actually used to sit behind me, and on her pencil case, it said 'Dressember,'" Mendat said. "I always love wearing dresses, so I asked her about it, and she told me. And I was like, 'Wow, that's like, really cool. Can I do that?' And she's like, 'Yeah, of course.’"
However, the issue was that wearing a dress at Lutheran West was against the dress code, so Perkins asked Vice Principal Thomas Balla if the school could make an exception.
“I always have hesitations about dress code, just in an effort to be consistent with all of our students and so we're not treating anybody different," Balla said. "And then common sense took over and said, 'How can we prevent in a Christian school where we want to promote certain values and service to others, how can we possibly prevent two students from raising awareness for such a good cause?'”
With that, the girls spent December wearing dresses to school and going door-to-door in the community and around Lutheran West to raise the $15,000. The school made Dec. 11 Dressember day and allowed all students to wear dresses or ties in support.
“All the teachers were very supportive. We asked, think maybe 30 or 40 of them. We got a lot of donations,” Perkins said.
In the end, they raised over $20,000, surpassing their original goal.
"[It] makes me feel like, really, really good. Because I'm like, 'Wow, I did that,'" Mendat said. "Like, $20,000 is like a lot of money, especially because ... I don't work, so, for me, that's like, wow, that's like a lot, and that's going to help a lot of people.”
Next year, the pair hopes to expand their initiative and allow all students to participate in wearing dresses or ties throughout the entire month of December.
"They're both phenomenal young female students here at our school, and just to see their intuition, their care for others and then their drive to actually stand behind what they believe in," Balla said. "That's our goal for our students, alongside the traditional learning that takes place in schools.”
