Fighting modern day slavery through art

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ROANOKE (WSLS10)-- A local high school student is using art as a way to fight human trafficking in our area and around the world. It's called Art for Abolitionists, and is a way to fight modern slavery through an art show that will be held at Tanglewood Mall over the next few weeks.

Callen Buchanan hasn't even graduated yet, she's still a senior at William Byrd High School-- but her passion for art and social justice is what pushed her to create the fundraising event. It will feature paintings, drawings, sculptures and other art projects from her fellow classmates and artists all over the Star City. The pieces will be sold to raise money and awareness for human trafficking, with all proceeds going to the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives to help end modern day slavery.

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Some people say she's young to have such a huge passion. Callen says when she learned that 5% of all agriculture businesses, or about 220,000 workers in America, are being exploited for their work-- she knew she had to do something.

"Driving around thinking about how many cow fields and corn fields you see," she says. "I've driven through Pennsylvania, and that's all that's there. So obviously there are going to be some of these people locally and in places that I've seen and visited, and I have no idea who is actually paid and who is stuck there."

The exhibit launches on Saturday, May 14, and runs through the end of the month. The pieces will be on sale May 21-22 and May 27-29. Last year, the art show raised nearly $1,000 and Callen is hoping to have an even bigger impact this year.

She says it's not all about the money though, there are also some simple changes we can make in our day-to-day lives that could have a huge impact in fighting human trafficking.

"My goal for this event is to just make people think about it more, make people think about the products they buy," Callen says. "I'll have information about what products are good, what products are bad and just the little things that people can do. Making these tangible changes in your life as a whole, can make things a lot better."

She says she's now more careful about the food that she buys, especially coffee and chocolate. She looks for the products that are certified and were not produced by forced or child-labor.

For more on her project and the upcoming art show, click here.