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PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — For the fourth year in a row, a partnership between the Center for Prevention of Abuse (CFPA) and a local coffee shop is drawing awareness about human trafficking in a tasty way.
In honor of Human Trafficking Awareness Month in January, all drinks at CxT Roasting Company will be served with a custom coffee sleeve with myth-busting facts about human trafficking and information about services provided by CFPA.
CxT Roasting Company will donate a portion of proceeds from every cup, along with 100% match.
Carol Merna, CEO of the Center for Prevention of Abuse, said CxT Roasting Company is the perfect ambassador because they practice what they preach.
“They practice really good services for preventing human trafficking… Fairtrade coffee, they’re anti-slavery. They do anti-human trafficking work in their business, so they are ideal to make sure local nonprofits like Center for Prevention of Abuse can do good work,” she said.
Mitchell Popadziuk, owner of CxT Roasting Company, said the first year they distributed 1000 sleeves. This year, they hope to give out 5000 sleeves. His hope is to raise awareness about human trafficking happening right here in Illinois.
“Putting those out there for people to see. The sleeves have been really cool. They show stats and show people where they can find help if they need it,” he said. “I think it’s really shocking for people initially when they find out things like human trafficking happen in central Illinois.”
Merna said the Center’s human trafficking department, launched in 2018, has served more than 100 trafficking survivors, with 88% from central Illinois.
She said Illinois ranks ninth in the nation for human trafficking.
CxT Roasting Company has three locations in Peoria.
