The Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition hosted Galveston’s Big Dipper Dash in Galveston, Texas in an effort to raise awareness and combat Human Trafficking during Houston’s Annual Human Trafficking Awareness Week. The event was a 5 Kilometer walk/run on Galveston’s sea wall.

An excerpt from the Galveston Daily News Paper: The name of Big Dipper Dash is appropriate for two reasons: The race begins in early evening so the stars will be out for the post-race party, and the Big Dipper was an important navigating point for runaway slaves in 19th-century America.

“We were thinking about a name for the race that tied into running at night, and thought about the Underground Railroad,” Houston Rescue and Restores’ Executive Director Maria Trujillo said. “The slaves passed along directions for escape in songs like “Following the Drinking Gourd,” where the drinking gourd was a code word for the Big Dipper, and following it took them north to freedom.”

Read more on the Big Dipper Dash on the Galveston Daily News website by clicking here.