Kicking off Texas Blue Sand Project, raising awareness about human trafficking on the South Plains

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - United Supermarkets joined local organizations One Voice Home, Voice of Hope, and Open Door to kick off the Texas Blue Sand Project, bringing awareness to the issue of human trafficking on the South Plains.

Hillary Cobb, the executive director of One Voice Home, says, “The Blue Sand Project exists to show survivors of sex trafficking or just human trafficking, so labor trafficking and different types of trafficking, that we see them and we will not let them fall through the cracks.”

The Blue Sand Project comes from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in an effort to bring awareness to human trafficking, a problem that Hillary Cobb says is very real here in Lubbock.

“A lot of people think that human trafficking doesn’t exist in Lubbock. But, if you open your eyes and kind of peel back your blinders and you know what to look for, we can promise you that you will see it,” Cobb said.

Local nonprofits like One Voice Home are seeing the impact of the Blue Sand Project with survivors across the South Plains.

“What is really cool is we had survivors that participated in this project last year because they cared so much about making sure that other survivors that may still be in the life know that there is a possibility that they can get out of the life,” Cobb said.

Getting involved in the Texas Blue Sand Project is simple. There will bags of blue sand at the register of all United Express locations across Lubbock free of charge.

“On January 26th we are going to come together and lay that blue sand in the cracks so when a survivor walks by she knows that we see her and we value her and believe in her,” Cobb said.

Angelos Lambis, the director of fuel and convenience at United, says not only does this effort raise awareness for human trafficking, but it is also an opportunity to highlight local resources in our community.

“We are working together to spread the message, to spread the word, and hopefully get our communities involved in this worthwhile project,” Lambis said.

If you or someone you know needs to see resources on human trafficking please visit any of the websites below.

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