CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee—Imaginative and prescient Hospitality Group hosted its fourth annual Purple Sand Venture occasion in partnership with WillowBend Farms on Friday, August 1, 2025, at its Aloft Chattanooga Hamilton Place in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The occasion introduced collectively a gathering of devoted organizations working to fight human trafficking, together with the Household Justice Middle for Hamilton County and the Hamilton County Well being Division.
The Purple Sand Venture is an initiative designed to boost consciousness and encourage motion round human trafficking. Individuals poured pink sand into sidewalk cracks to characterize the numerous victims who’ve fallen via the cracks of society every day.
“The Purple Sand Venture reminds us that human trafficking continues to be a urgent public well being subject and a devastating actuality in each state,” mentioned Jenelle Hawkins, director of operational excellence at Imaginative and prescient Hospitality Group. “As members of the resort {industry}, we perceive our distinctive place to assist determine and stop trafficking. We’re proud to be a part of a neighborhood that’s not solely elevating consciousness but in addition driving actual options. As we mark our fourth 12 months, our dedication is stronger than ever.”
Based on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, there have been 213 reported human trafficking instances in Tennessee in 2024, involving 446 victims. Occasions just like the Purple Sand Venture carry visibility to the difficulty, encourage schooling, and empower neighborhood motion.
Imaginative and prescient Hospitality Group stays dedicated to combating trafficking via neighborhood partnerships, ongoing employees coaching, and philanthropic assist. In 2024, Imaginative and prescient donated $100,000 to the AHLA Basis’s No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) Survivor Fund, offering housing and job placement providers to trafficking survivors nationwide. Mitch Patel, founder and chief government officer of Imaginative and prescient Hospitality Group and present chair of the American Resort & Lodging Affiliation, has lengthy championed industry-wide efforts to forestall human trafficking and assist survivors.
“We have been honored to face with our companions and our neighborhood to carry consideration to this subject,” mentioned Mitch Patel. “Collectively, via consciousness and motion, we’re working towards a future the place each particular person is secure, seen, and supported.”
