RICHMOND, Va. -- Governor Glen Youngkin (R - Virginia) and first lady Suzanne Youngkin announced a $43,750 donation to a non-profit that works to end human trafficking and child exploitation.
“It defeats and diminishes the dignity of human beings,” the Governor said on Wednesday following a ceremony held at the Virginia State Police Headquarters.
The donation is the equivalent of the Governor’s paycheck for the second quarter of 2023.
He has previously made quarterly donations to causes supporting veterans, first responders, and workforce development for low-income groups.
Bryan Weight of Operation Light Shine, a nonprofit based in Tennessee, was on hand to receive the Youngkins' check and bring their model for fighting human trafficking to Virginia.
The group funds task force efforts to acquire technology, software, equipment, forensics capabilities, subject matter experts, training, and more.
“I think what has happened historically, oftentimes in organizations, is people were working on it, but not in it not in a coordinated collaborative way,” said Youngkin.
Currently, Operation Light Shine works in Tennessee and Florida.
Established in 2019, the group has annual expenses above $4 million according to its website.
In Wednesday’s ceremony, attendees were told of 63 people saved from human trafficking in those two states just in the first half of 2023.
Additionally, Governor Youngkin announced the signing of eight bills from the most recent General Assembly session aimed at eradicating human trafficking.
In a ceremonial signing for one of the new laws, he approved the Board of Medicine requiring health care professionals to complete continuing education courses on specific subject areas. The legislation directs the board to make the first subject area to be on the topic of human trafficking.
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