Attending a fundraiser at the Pillsbury mansion in Minneapolis on May 14, 2011 were seven current and former residents of Cook County. The event raised money for Freedom Firm, an organization that rescues young women from the sex trafficking trade in India. (L-R, front) Janelle (Larsen) Mellema, Julie Larsen Zarzosa (the co-host and on the Freedom Firm board), Jackie Larsen, Jim Larsen, (L-R, back) LeeAnn (Rose) Belski, Jane Howard, and Kelsey Kennedy.
Seven current and former Cook County residents spent an elegant evening at the beautiful and historic Pillsbury Mansion in Minneapolis May 14. The evening was replete with hors d’oeuvres— including a chocolate fountain from The Melting Pot fondue restaurant—and samplings of six different wines with alluring descriptions.
Those trying the 2008 Artesa Carneros Chardonnay would find that its “luscious aromas of lime, orange peel, apricot, mango, honeysuckle and lemon zest jump out of the glass.” Tasters made their way through various reds and a rosé to the Alexis Bailly Vineyard’s Reserve Chocolate Port, “a very romantic dessert wine that captures the delicious, alluring flavors of both the grape and that most intoxicating flavor of all, chocolate.”
The house, owned by Melissa and Uri Camarena, provides a glimpse into the life of one of Minnesota’s famous entrepreneurial families. With its curving staircases, ornate woodwork, period lighting, and stone facade over a century old, its grandeur has not been lost. The former kitchen, breakfast room, and butler’s pantry have been turned into an art gallery, where the Camarenas promote a revolving roster of visual artists.
The evening, co-hosted by Julie Larsen Zarzosa, who grew up in Grand Marais, was about more than entertainment and refreshment, however. It provided a sobering glimpse into the trafficking of children in the sex trade in India. Its purpose was to draw attention to the problem and garner support for the efforts of Freedom Firm, a nonprofit that rescues victims, offers them avenues of healing, and seeks to bring the perpetrators to justice.
A 2006 United Nations report states, “Of the two million sex workers in India, it is estimated that 60 percent of them were trafficked into prostitution while they were between 12 and 16 years of age.”
According to Freedom Firm, “Brothel keepers charge exorbitant fees for younger girls. Although the penalties are high, the risk of taking on a younger girl is worth it because of the profit made off a minor girl.”
“These girls are tricked by false promises of a good job or sold by a relative into a brothel and then held as sexual slaves,” the agency’s website states. “Deeply wounded emotionally, the girls need counseling and a strong support network to avoid returning to prostitution. Uneducated and often considered ineligible for marriage because of their sexual exploitation, rescued girls are in desperate need of basic education, medical care, and vocational training.”
The organization is making a difference, one young woman and one court case at a time. “Freedom Firm’s aftercare home provides rescued girls with job training, education, counseling, and health care in a safe, family-type setting,” an agency brochure states. “
“…Since its inception in 2006, Freedom Firm has conducted over 200 investigations in 25 cities, rescued over 130 girls, and over 60 criminal cases have been filed, with over 35 of them currently at different stages in the justice system. Eight brothel keepers or traffickers have been convicted to either five or seven years in prison.”
Freedom Firm partners with a microenterprise called Ruhamah Designs, a jewelry-making business. According to its brochure, “We at Ruhamah Designs are passionate about two things: our employees and our product. Ruhamah Designs employs women who have been rescued from prostitution.
“With little or no education, few marketable skills, from backgrounds of poverty and low caste, they end up in the margins of Indian society. …Ruhamah Designs offers them a fresh start in life in a viable, sustainable occupation. … The art and craft of jewelry making is not only a means for livelihood, but it is also therapy. As they create, they heal.”
Julie Larsen Zarzosa is on the Freedom Firm board and co-hosted the event with Gretchen Merritt, the agency’s U.S. director. Close to a dozen Cook County businesses donated meals, lodging, recreation, gift certificates, and products that were sold at a silent auction the night of the event. Thanks to an evening of elegance and the concern of people like Zarzosa and Merritt, Cook County has now reached out to help transform victims into survivors in a distant corner of the world.
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