Kylee Newton, first-year nonprofit and accounting major at William Jewell College, talks about her passions to fight human trafficking and inspire others. Newton has a drive to give back to the world and help others in her community. She has been volunteering all her life.
“My favorite volunteer memory is when I was serving food at the Keenage Center in my hometown. It was really fun, and the elderly people who ate there were absolutely amazing people. I heard so many stories and they taught me how to play Pitch, which I still cannot play right.”
Recently, she has been most interested in raising awareness for human trafficking.
“The event that was hosted by my church sparked my initial interest but, it really was when I met someone who was trafficked and I learned of all the pain that she endured, and I knew that I wanted to help people like her. After that, I kept seeing organizations that were raising awareness and doing awesome things to end it. Then I met my two best friends at Jewell, Natalie and Megan, and they share the same fire to raise awareness so I just went for it.”
She has brought the END IT! movement to Jewell, after attending a Passion Christian Conference in Atlanta, which is aiming to unite students in worship, prayer and justice for spiritual awakening through music and collaboration. There she met with the END IT! nonprofit and made connections to bring the movement to the College. The END IT! movement raises awareness and funds to end human trafficking and slavery.
“I thought it would be so cool if we could bring END IT! to Jewell because that’s a thousand people raising awareness, along with the millions of others around the world who know about this movement. So I went to NLA (the Nonprofit Leadership Association) and they were all about it.”
One of the main inspirations for Newton in the nonprofit world is Christine Caine, the founder of A21, a nonprofit organization that combats human trafficking.
“Christine Caine has her own organization, so i’ve been looking up to her for guidance and inspiration, in order to keep going with my passion.”
Newton and her friends drew over 400 X’s Wednesday, February 21 in the Yates-Gill Union to raise END IT! movement. She’s hoping to continue her passion for giving back to the world by bringing more organizations to Jewell.
In the future, Newton hopes to open a Hope House with Natalie Denzer, sophomore nonprofit leadership major, and continue helping people in need.
“I want to work for an accounting firm for a while, because that’s one of my first dreams, and then, eventually, work in the nonprofit world and use my business skills to work in that sector. Then Natalie and I, eventually, want to open up a Hope House and I’d really like to work with her on that.”
Photo by Cassie Hayes.