Not content with just one skydiving adventure to her name, a Battle Ground great-grandma, Shirley Romig, will make her sixth jump this month, all for a good cause.
Romig will jump out of an airplane Sept. 17 to raise funds for the fight against child sex trafficking.
While this will be Romig’s sixth jump, it will be her second jump for a fundraiser. Romig’s jump will be taking place at 12 p.m. on Sept. 17 with Pacific Northwest Skydiving Center based near Molalla, Oregon.
Romig was inspired to raise funds for sex trafficking victims after watching the movie “The Sound of Freedom,” which is loosely-based on a true story, not once but twice.
Silent Bridge, an operation based out of Vancouver that combats sex trafficking globally, reports that 40 million individuals are trafficked every year.
“Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery,” according to the Silent Bridge website. “A victim is forced, in one of a variety of ways, into a situation of dependency on their trafficker and then used by said trafficker to give sexual services to customers.”
“I have three beautiful great-grandchildren. … I really want to see them be able to grow up and not have to deal with any kind of this stuff,” Romig said. “I’ve had this on the back of my mind for a long time because I’ve done quite a bit of research into child sex trafficking. And then the movie came out, ‘The Sound of Freedom.’ I thought twice, and then with some other people that were starting to speak out, I just feel like I need to do my part.”
Romig hopes that her efforts will help rescue at least one child.
“I have a goal of trying to raise $10,000, and I mean, even if I can save one child, I’ll be happy,” Romig said. “The other thing that I have found [is] there are so many people that have no idea of how bad this is, and it’s one thing that I am learning. I’m speaking up when I’m talking to people. … I want [child sex trafficking] to be stopped and, whatever I can do, I want to help.”
Romig has placed fliers with a QR code in town to promote her fundraiser. All proceeds will be going directly to Operation Underground Railroad. To find Romig’s flier online, visit her Facebook page by searching for Shirley Romig.
