On March 25, Smokin’ Oak presented a check of $1,500 to Warrior 321 to aid them in the battle against human trafficking. Rod and Cat Scott, the pizzeria’s owners, gifted the check to the organization’s Chairman Alan Wilkett and Toni Rivera early Tuesday afternoon to help them in their mission against such evil.
Warrior 321 is a non-profit organization led by anti-human trafficking experts with decades of experience in law enforcement, their website noted. Mr. Wilkett, Warrior 321’s founder and a retired corporal, has received several commendations over his years of service, including the Law Enforcement Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Crime Prevention Association, and he has dedicated much of his recent efforts towards combatting human trafficking.
“Human trafficking is a global problem,” Wilkett said. “The ILO estimates that right now, there are 49.6 million victims of human trafficking as we sit at this table. That is almost 50 million people that don’t have freedom.”
$236 billion are raised by the criminal enterprise every single year, RET Corporal Wilkett added. It is the second largest in the world behind drug trafficking, and those two could swap positions in under two decades, according to experts.
The reason for this potentially meteoric increase is gut-wrenching. As the organization’s chairman put it, “it is because you can sell the product over and over and over and over again if you do.”
Even worse, these problems are not just happening in some far-off underdeveloped nation. They are taking place in our backyard. The retired corporal revealed more troubling statistics, stating that the Tampa Bay area is the third highest reporting area for human trafficking in Florida, the state itself reports the third highest rate to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, and the United States is “the number one consumer of human trafficking” in the world.
While Mr. Wilkett feels that “any organization that thinks they are the answer to the problem is not just lying to themselves, but they are lying to the victims,” this money will go towards bringing education and awareness to these vile acts. The retired corporal says this is why Warrior 321 exists.
Ms. Rivera emphasized that education does save lives. “You would be surprised how many people have pulled us aside and just by their ears being perked up and knowing what to look for and what to listen for, we have saved the lives of youths who were heading in the direction of being groomed and recruited by predators.”
As the Hernando Sun was speaking with representatives from Warrior 321, Alan pointed out that lawmakers in Tallahassee were literally in the midst of debating a human trafficking-related bill that would increase the penalties for such purchases in the state and put massage parlors “on notice” if they are operating as a brothel.
“We have to come together as a community. That means every aspect,” from faith to business, he added. “[…] What is so beautiful about why we are here today is that Smokin’ Oak, Rod, and Cat made a decision, and that was, we can’t just sit on the sideline.”
With only 10 Smokin’ Oaks across the country, the Hernando-based branch is actually the only one located in the entire state of Florida. Of their fellow branches, Rod and Cat’s business raised the most money on Pi Day (March 14) by far – roughly a thousand dollars more.
Rod Scott, who was in the military for over 30 years, served several years in counter-narcotics. Tragically, narcotics and human trafficking “go hand in hand,” Mr. Scott noted, and it was his service that led him to celebrate 3/14 by selling pizza pies for $3.14 and donating the proceeds to one non-profit organization each year. This year, Warrior 321 felt like the right one.
Chairman Wilkett and company invite citizens to come out to their meetings on the last Monday of each month. They are held at 1 p.m. at the Elk’s Lodge on County Line.
