Red Sand Project at Laurel Acres Park Aims to Raise Awareness of Human Trafficking

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ — Assemblywoman Carol Murphy is organizing event this weekend to raise awareness of human trafficking.

Murphy (D- Mount Laurel) will be holding a “Red Sand Project” at Laurel Acres Park on Saturday, February 4 from 10AM to 1PM.

The Red Sand Project aims to raise awareness about vulnerabilities that can lead to human trafficking and exploitation by using sidewalk interventions and earthwork installations.

Founded by Molly Gochman in 2014, the Red Sand Project was formed to increase public awareness — and engagement — about contemporary human slavery, which includes forced labor, forced marries and sexual exploitation of individuals. The first Red Sand Project action was in Miami, where Gochman filled the cracks of sidewalks in and around the popular Art Basel Miami Beach pavilion with red sand.

“The approach was symbolic, with the grains of sand representing those individuals who fall through the cracks — whether the cracks of our social, economic and political systems, or those of our personal consciousness,” reads the Red Sand Project's website.

Those who participate in Murphy's Sunday event will be given packets of biodegradable red sand that will be used to fill the sidewalk cracks of Laurel Acres Park.

For more information about the Red Sand Project, visit https://redsandproject.org/.

Laurel Acres Park is located at 1045 South Church Street in Mount Laurel.