On Thursday, 10 young women sat down with Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch and the county’s Human Trafficking Task Force and told them about their experiences during the past 41 days.
From running away from bears, biking the steep streets of San Francisco and braving the howling winds of the Golden Gate Bridge, they’ve done it all to bring awareness to sex trafficking.
The college-age women are part of the 2023 Pedal the Pacific team. The nonprofit organization was started in 2017 by three women who wanted to bring awareness to human and sex trafficking.
Now, each year a group of young women reprise that inaugural trek, cycling 1,700 miles to San Diego from Seattle.
All from different parts of the country and different colleges, and with little cycling experience, Iggy Andrews-Zachry, Moriah Busch, Sara Garcia, Claire Kenyon, Caroline Murray, Rachel Newton, Jordan Pilcher, Katherine Thomas, Ally Tripure and Emma Warner all have their own reasons for cycling.
During Thursday’s roundtable discussion at the District Attorney’s Office and with other task force members participating by Zoom, the team shared what they’ve learned about sex trafficking during their journey and through talking with survivors.
“We have heard a lot of stories of older women being trafficked, which was something that I don’t think any of us necessarily expected,” Kenyon said. “They really emphasize to us it can happen at any age, to any gender.”
The team also heard from experts on human trafficking and what efforts are being done to raise awareness in Santa Barbara County.
“I think it’s really inspiring,” Kenyon told Noozhawk. “It’s really cool to see so many people doing so many different things, but all coming together under a common goal.
“And it just makes us all think about who we want to be when we grow up.”
Kenyon has been working with survivors long before joining Pedal the Pacific. She’s part of an outreach program through her school, Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, that gives her the opportunity to connect with survivors on a personal level.
“I think people hear a lot of statistics, but it hits harder when you have a personal connection to it,” she said. “That’s what made me want to get involved, having a face associated with the issue and hearing people’s stories — that just hurt my heart more, knowing those people personally.”
Moriah Busch said she was passionate about the issue of human and sex trafficking but wanted to learn more and find ways to make it less taboo to talk about.
“I was really just looking for an opportunity to start that conversation,” said the Petaluma resident, the only Californian on this year’s team.
“As uncomfortable as it can be, I wanted to share what I was actively learning with my community.”
As of Thursday, the team had raised $108,000 for the cause and, with a little more than a week left, they hope to reach their goal of $140,000, bringing the organization to $1 million raised to fight against sex trafficking. Click here to make an online donation.
Savrnoch encouraged the women to keep going, even on the hard days, as they get ready for the last leg of their trip. He also praised them for caring about the issue, even if it doesn’t directly affect them.
“It’s when you see as a society something that isn’t necessarily in your home or backyard, you still care enough to put in the effort to change,” he told the team. “That’s when real change starts happening.”
The team next will cycle through Ventura County and eventually end in San Diego. For their penultimate day, they plan to ride 73 miles.
“I think our spirits are high,” Garcia said. “We’ve gotten through the thick of the ride, and I think we’re really excited to cross the finish line together as a team.”
After the roundtable, the team met with members of the Junior League of Santa Barbara, which established and provides ongoing support for S.A.F.E. (Saving At-risk Youth from Exploitation) House Santa Barbara, a six-bed, Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program designed to meet the specific needs of minor girls who were swept into the trade of forced sex and labor.
Junior League president Jenni-Elise Ramirez and impacts chairwoman Brea Burkholz described their work during a picnic dinner at the Courthouse Sunken Garden.
The Pedal the Pacific team arrived in Lompoc on July 15, and spent 2½ days in the community hosted by the North County Rape Crisis & Child Protection Center, along with the Lompoc Rotary Club, the Lompoc-Vandenberg Chapter of the American Association of University Women and Vandenberg Space Force Base.
More than 100 community members attended a Monday dinner at the Hilton Garden Inn, where the team presented the North County Rape Crisis Center with a $5,000 grant from the organization.
After arriving in Santa Barbara on Tuesday afternoon, the riders have been staying with several host families from All Saints By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Montecito, with support from ExxonMobil, Junior League of Santa Barbara, Kyle’s Kitchen, Lotusland, Noozhawk, Parker Clay, the Santa Barbara Club, Velo Pro Cyclery and art educator Sondra Weiss.