The Association for the Recovery of Children has located every missing child who has come across their radar

Bazzel Baz is the founder and CEO of Association for the Recovery of Children, a nonprofit organization in which former intelligence, military and law enforcement officers dedicate their time and resources to the recovery of missing, exploited and sex trafficked American children.

The organization has a 100% success rate and has located every missing child who has come across their radar.

“I got into this in 1993 after coming back from Mogadishu, Somalia,” said Baz. “A lot of people know that area as an area where Black Hawk Down took place and we rescued a couple of kids there. When I got back to the United States, I was curious as to what was actually happening in our own backyard. I realized it was something bigger.”

In September, the Recovery of Children team will return to Rapid City to host a speaking event and workshop.

“We’ll be coming back to Rapid City once again to run a six-day ‘fight child trafficking’ equipping course,” said Baz. “This teaches people not only about the AOE, the area of operations, but it actually gives them the skills and the tradecraft to literally recognize when children are being trafficked, go out and find them and actually run a rescue operation either by themselves or in concert with their law enforcement partners and save the life of the child. We realized that we had to force, multiply and teach people actually to get boots on the ground and go out and save children.”

The course will take place September 12-17 in Rapid City.

“It’s a very intense six-day, ten hour a day course,” said Baz. “It’s no fluff.”

Kelly Patterson, executive director of Treasured Lives, said the speaking event will benefit anyone in attendance.

“I’m glad we also have him speaking on the 10^th,” said Patterson. “That is the awareness part of it and getting people who maybe don’t know anything about trafficking or at least don’t know the extent of it— it is helpful for them to hear buzz and to become aware. And what we saw the last time we had him here is really light a fire under individuals. We’re following it with the training immediately after because that just worked out really well. Because this training, what it did for us as a team, is it gave us wisdom we did not have before. It gave us tools we did not have before. It exponentially helped us be smarter, safer and more efficient. We’ve been able to help with whether you want to call them escapes or rescues.”

The Treasured Lives nonprofit is currently accepting volunteers and monetary donations.

“Saving one victim or one child may not change the world, but for that one child, their entire world changes,” said Patterson.

To make a donation to Treasured Lives or to sign up for the six-day anti-trafficking course, visit the Treasured Lives website here.