Dear Friends of Starfish Project, 

You may remember that Starfish Project, as a jewelry company, began at an Easter party we held in the red-light district. That Easter, five women made the incredibly brave decision to escape their lives of exploitation. Their courage has made way for hundreds of women to escape the brothels and experience freedom over the past 17 years. 

We are so excited to celebrate 17 years of restoring hope! We could not do this incredible work without you. As we celebrate our 17th Anniversary, I am excited to share that we have just welcomed a new woman into our Starfish Project community. Join us in celebrating Ke Li’s freedom and new journey of hope. 

Ke Li started working in the brothel when she was 16 years old. She has been exploited for ten years. She was trafficked by a boss and sent to different places based on customer requests– This is even more dangerous than brothels. Her boss put her in high-risk situations, and she was arrested multiple times. Previously her trafficker paid her bail to get her out, which put her into deep debt with him. After the last lockdown, she was arrested again, and her boss decided to leave her sitting in jail. While I was traveling in the USA, three women in our program at Starfish Project who were friends with Ke Li in their previous lives and have all now worked into higher-level jobs at Starfish, pooled their savings together and paid off her fine to the police so she could get out of jail. Together they paid $8,700 to rescue their friend. They came to us and asked us to employ her so that she could stay out of jail and not return to her trafficker, and we were able to say yes! 

I was incredibly touched that the women in our program were so willing to sacrifice themselves to help another woman get out of this situation. All three of these women have been with Starfish Project for several years. One has earned her college degree at Starfish Project, and the other two are currently studying accounting. Through their incredible sacrifice, we can see how much they believe in the opportunities at Starfish Project. 

Thank you so much for supporting Starfish Project over the last 17 years! Our team of survivors has excitedly prepared a brand new Spring line filled with beautiful, impactful jewelry. We would be honored if you would shop with us so we can continue to offer more girls and women like Ke Li the opportunity to experience freedom, establish independence and develop careers. Thank you for restoring hope with us. 

Blessings,

Jenny McGee

Founder and CEO