Making A Difference

While most college kids spend their days cramming for tests and hanging out in dining halls, Zeta Tau Alpha’s very own Emily Wilhoit has done something world changing with her time here at UGA. As a junior she brought the first college chapter of Free the Girls to UGA which raises money and awareness for victims of sex trafficking. Free the Girls also collects bras that are sent to Mozambique, Uganda and El Salvador allowing the women in their programs to start their own business selling bras. Because women are trafficked from such a young age, it is hard for them to find a job when they get out due to the education and training they were deprived of. Bra donations help employ these women because every bra that is donated is a bra that these women can then sell. It is important to give women this opportunity to start their own business to encourage them to believe in themselves, be financially independent, and have hope for the future.

Around September Emily was on the phone with her dad discussing how she could raise more bras. She exclaimed, “I kept asking my friends to donate their bras and they would say ‘I already did! Now I wear all of the bras I own!’ So I thought, what if there was a way people could continue to donate bras and support FTG without having to donate the bras they actually wear?" That’s when the idea for BoGo Bras came to be. BoGo, which stands for buy one give one, is a company Emily created with her dad. The company donates one bra for every bra that people buy. This allows women to help other women with just the purchase of a bra and increases the inventory Free The Girls has which will allow them to expand. Emily loves being able to expose more people to the issue of human trafficking while also offering a tangible way to get involved and make a difference.