{"id":23775,"date":"2025-06-12T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/?p=23775"},"modified":"2025-06-09T22:24:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T22:24:11","slug":"whispers-of-hope-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/whispers-of-hope-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Unmasking human trafficking: Fourth annual Hope Masquerade Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>YOU ARE loved. You are valued. Imagine hearing these words from a stranger, or receiving a gift bag and discovering these words have been lovingly penned inside a card. Whispers of Hope Founder Sally Russell, along with a group of volunteers, shares these words, along with hugs and prayers, with individuals in crisis. They offer something survivors had lost \u2014 a reason to hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation ranks human trafficking as the second-fastest-growing industry behind drug trafficking, with hundreds of thousands of victims trafficked nationwide every year. With these staggering statistics, Russell knew she must act. In 2020, she formed Whispers of Hope. This 501(c)(3) is 100% funded through private donations, with most funds raised during its annual Hope Ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/Story-1-photo1-9-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23778\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/Story-1-photo1-9-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/Story-1-photo1-9-980x653.jpg 980w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/Story-1-photo1-9-480x320.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photos submitted by LaVonda Gale Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Fly hosted its fourth annual event on April 18. Though attendees wore formal attire, their mission of \u201cUnmasking Human Trafficking\u201d is far from glamorous. Tickets sold out quickly. Thirty-eight people attended, including five of the nine volunteers who faithfully serve alongside Russell each week. The event raised $1,158.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Russell said, \u201cThis is our biggest intake of funds annually that keeps our mission rolling. We are 100% donation-based. With the funds we collected, we purchased our outreach items for the year, curriculum for our care teams, contents for our care packages, provided funding for our partners in India, and provided emergency stipends to women in crisis. We are so thankful to our supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Volunteers travel from Bedford County to Chattanooga, Smithville, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, each week to minister to those working in the entertainment industry. Whispers of Hope recently expanded beyond our nation to provide women in India rescued from sex trafficking with opportunities to pursue nursing degrees. <strong>GN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Go to www.whispersofhopetn.com for more information.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>YOU ARE loved. You are valued. Imagine hearing these words from a stranger, or receiving a gift bag and discovering these words have been lovingly penned inside a card. Whispers of Hope Founder Sally Russell, along with a group of volunteers, shares these words, along with hugs and prayers, with individuals in crisis. They offer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":23777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Unmasking human trafficking: Fourth annual Hope Masquerade Ball - Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/whispers-of-hope-event\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unmasking human trafficking: Fourth annual Hope Masquerade Ball - Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"YOU ARE loved. 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