Making a difference: Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin joins fight against human trafficking
Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes has become one of the NHL’s best defensemen and is a past winner of the league’s Lady Byng Trophy, given annually for sportsmanship and a high standard of play.
His hockey acclaim and stature in the league have helped create a platform for him and his wife, Kylie, and their newly devoted stewardship to another cause: trying to combat the widespread exploitation of children through human trafficking.
“It’s a problem that needs to be solved and it’s very relevant, but some people don’t want to admit that it really exists,” Slavin said . “You see the videos and it’s heart-wrenching to watch. Watch the video and how do you not do something about it?
“It can go one way or the other for people. They can get involved and do something about it, or they can forget about it because they don’t want to think about it.”
The Slavins are determined to do something about it. They have partnered with International Justice Mission (IJM), a global organization that protects people in poverty from violence and modern slavery, to launch “Fight for Freedom,” a non-profit devoted to ending child online exploitation and trafficking in the Philippines.
The Slavins announced the Fight for Freedom goal is to raise $1 million, and they will match up to $500,000 in donations.
“In the Philippines alone, 500,000 kids were trafficked in 2022,” Slavin said. “That’s where the campaign is focusing the money. Obviously, the more money we raise will be great for the organization (IJM) itself and will help it, but one of the biggest things we’re going for is just awareness. An awareness of not just online exploitation of children in the Philippines but all the human trafficking that’s going on all over the world.”
Slavin said the couple first became involved with the effort after attending a Pro Athletes Outreach (PAO) conference this summer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A luncheon was held by IJM and Compassion International, a child sponsorship and Christian humanitarian organization that the Slavins have supported.
After hearing the presentation, Slavin said, “We immediately opened our hearts to it. The conference was about being able to use the platform of hockey while you’re playing. Some day that platform will go away. You retire and your platform is not as big. We wanted to make sure we were able to steward that wisely.
“We knew we wanted to make it a large gift and also we wanted to use the platform. Eventually this kind of came to life.”
With the help of a friend with expertise in non-profits, they established Fight for Freedom. The Slavins made it official this week on social media.
Slavin said he has discussed the effort with Canes owner Tom Dundon, about getting organizational support from the Hurricanes. A gathering was held at the Slavins’ house, which some of his teammates attended.
“It’s not something I want to force on them,” Slavin said. “It’s gotten good traction so far. As I said, we’re trying to raise a lot of money but also trying to raise awareness. As I said, that’s the biggest thing, awareness.”
Information on the Fight for Freedom campaign can be found at: ijm.org/slavin.
This story was originally published November 17, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
