Just Go For It

Teenage girl raises nearly $5,000 for Freedom a la Cart

Never underestimate the power of a woman on a mission! Even a young woman of 16-years old.  Grace Welty, a 16-year-old junior at Westerville Central High School, wanted to do something to support Freedom a la Cart’s mission to empower survivors of human trafficking after discovering the severity of the sex trafficking issue in Central Ohio.

“I know that [sex trafficking] is a really big issue,” Grace said. “I feel that people know about it, but don’t really take the time to take action.”

Grace approached Freedom a la Cart with her desire to raise money for the organization through the game of golf. Her plan was to encourage friends, family and neighbors to pledge a dollar amount for each par she earned throughout the 2018 golf season.  Grace ended the season with 98 pars. Most people pledged $1 per par, and others decided to give a flat donation on top of their par donation. Together, Grace collected $4,864.50 for Freedom a la Cart.(Even more than printed on the over-sized check!)

Grace said her dedication to the cause made it easy to raise the money.  “It motivated me more to ask people. Everyone I asked said, yes,” Grace said.

Although she hoped to raise a lot of money, Grace says she never expected to raise more than $1,000, so she was pleasantly surprised by the result.

Grace’s advice for anyone who wants to raise money for Freedom a la Cart is to “just go for it!”

“I didn’t think that I would raise this much money, but even if I didn’t, it’s still making an impact,” she said. “You can get the word out, and I think it’s really good to just go for it because you never know what can happen.”