
By India McCarty
Seventy-one missing children have been found and are now safe, thanks to the work of the Tim Tebow Foundation.
“Let’s go! So grateful that 71 missing and endangered children have been identified and are safe!” Tebow posted on Instagram. “So often when children run away, they don’t know the danger they’re running into — trafficking, exploitation, drugs, violence, criminalization…It’s critical we find them, and find them fast. ”
The former football star shared more information about the “first-ever Capital Region Missing Child Rescue Operation,” explaining that, by partnering with “the National Child Protection Task Force (NCPTF)…the New York State Missing Persons Clearinghouse and a coalition of local, state, and federal partners,” they were able to find these kids.
“The operation brought together more than 60 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private partners to collaborate and provide critical investigative support,” Tim Tebow continued. “During the three-day operation, partners worked to explore new leads, review case notes, and leverage technology to find children who are at risk of endangerment, exploitation, and harm.”
Kevin Branzetti, the co-founder and CEO of the NCPTF, shared a statement about the organization’s mission, saying, “At NCPTF, our commitment is simple: Find. Listen. Help. Every missing child is at risk, regardless of how they are classified — runaway, abducted, or missing. And every child deserves urgency, care, and action.”
Related: How Tim Tebow Fights to End Sex Trafficking
Tebow has been working to combat sex trafficking “for over 10 years,” he told Fox News.
“My dad was overseas and was able to purchase the freedom of four little girls,” Tim Tebow explained. “And I just knew that day that I was called to fight for the most vulnerable. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”
In an interview with CBN, he said, “We believe it’s one of the worst evils in the world. When you look at the world of trafficking and child exploitation, there’s so many people [whose] lives are at stake, and lives are on the line every single day.”
Tebow explained his foundation’s goal is to help “through technology, through legislation, through law enforcement, through operations” to identify and rescue victims of sex trafficking.
“How could I live on my timeline knowing that [a victim] has to handle that one more day?” he continued. “As an image bearer of our creator, as someone that Jesus died for, for me to sit here and to be comfortable while she is so uncomfortable, it should make me agonized; it should put a burden on me.”
Tim Tebow’s work to save missing and endangered children is truly inspiring!
Read Next: ‘Need an Army’: Tim Tebow Urges Others to Join Fight Against Child Sex Abuse