Veterans For Child Rescue is bringing its fight against child trafficking to Southern Arizona this weekend. On Saturday, October 10, 2026, the Tucson-based nonprofit hosts Power 2 Protect, a four-hour fundraiser at Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene that pairs live art, a faith-centered keynote, and a charity auction with one blunt message: protecting children is everybody’s job.
The event is led by V4CR founder Craig “Sawman” Sawyer, a Marine veteran and former Navy SEAL, and features live speed artist Vanessa Horabuena and guest speaker Stephen Prouse. Proceeds support the organization’s counter-trafficking operations, public awareness work, and prevention education.
Power 2 Protect at a Glance
| Event | Power 2 Protect, hosted by Veterans For Child Rescue (V4CR) |
| Date | Saturday, October 10, 2026 |
| Time | 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Arizona time) |
| Venue | Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene, Oro Valley, Arizona |
| General admission | $75 (lunch, silent and live auction, keynote, two live paintings) |
| Navy Blue sponsor | $750, reserved table for 8 with on-stage and social media recognition |
| Gold sponsor | $1,000, reserved table for 8 plus V4CR Rescue Roast coffee |
| Tickets | Buy tickets | Sponsorships |
| Contact | Info@vets4childrescue.org |
Both sponsor tiers include lunch for every seat, recognition on the event slideshow, a commemorative certificate, an official V4CR challenge coin for each guest, and an exclusive V4CR T-shirt.
Who Is Veterans For Child Rescue?
Sawyer founded Veterans For Child Rescue in April 2017 after a friend from the intelligence community briefed him on the scale of child trafficking inside the United States. The nonprofit, registered under tax ID 82-1243908 and headquartered in Tucson, describes its mission in three parts: raise awareness, rescue victims, and put predators behind bars.
According to figures posted on the organization’s website, V4CR has been involved in 53 arrests with a 100 percent conviction rate through joint counter-trafficking operations with law enforcement and partner groups, with 160 warrants and more than 3,700 potential victims protected. Those numbers are self-reported by the nonprofit, and V4CR maintains a public arrests page documenting cases it has supported.
The group is best known for Contraland, a free documentary released in 2019 that shows sting operations, survivor interviews, and the grooming methods predators use. V4CR says the film reached roughly 90 million households in the United States and Canada when it aired on the Daystar network in 2020.
Craig “Sawman” Sawyer: From SEAL Team Six to Child Protection
Sawyer’s résumé reads like a tour of America’s most demanding tactical jobs. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1983, moved to the Navy in 1986, and graduated with BUD/S class 149 in 1988 before reporting to SEAL Team One. He deployed during the Gulf War, later served as a sniper instructor, and went on to the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, commonly known as SEAL Team Six, until leaving the Navy in 1999, according to his public biography.
After the Navy, he worked as a Federal Air Marshal agent and supervisor, then ran high-threat security details for the State Department in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. Television audiences know him as a recurring expert on all five seasons of History’s Top Shot and as team leader on Animal Planet’s Battleground: Rhino Wars, where he and fellow special operations veterans went after rhino poachers in Africa.
V4CR’s founder page explains that the mission became personal when tragedy struck his own family shortly after the organization launched, an experience that shaped the group’s emphasis on survivor aftercare. It is the same kind of second mission Stucci Media has covered in veterans like Glenn Baker and Walk For A Hero: people who served once and decided to keep serving.
What Guests Will Experience at Power 2 Protect
Live Speed Painting by Vanessa Horabuena
Vanessa Horabuena is an internationally recognized Christian worship artist whose performances turn a blank canvas into a finished piece in minutes, often set to music. At Power 2 Protect she will create two original paintings live on stage, and both will go straight to the live auction. Her own story, which she shares openly, includes a hard childhood and a long road back through faith and art, which gives her work on this stage an added weight.
Keynote by Stephen Prouse
Stephen Prouse is a familiar voice in men’s ministry, known for teaching on prayer, fatherhood, and what he calls the restoration of godly manhood. Organizers say his message in Oro Valley will focus on faith, courage, and the responsibility every adult carries to protect children.
Lunch, Silent Auction, and Live Auction
Every ticket includes lunch and access to a silent auction and live auction featuring unique items and experiences. As local station KXCI noted in its community calendar listing, the goal is as much about bringing Southern Arizona together and raising awareness as it is about raising money.
Why the Fight Against Child Trafficking Matters Right Now
The timing is not abstract. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reports that its CyberTipline received 21.3 million reports in 2025. Reports of online enticement, where an adult targets a child online with sexual intent, reached 1.4 million, a 158 percent jump over 2024. Child sex trafficking reports rose 323 percent.
Part of that surge reflects the 2024 REPORT Act, which now requires tech companies to report enticement and trafficking the same way they report abuse material, according to NCMEC’s 2025 CyberTipline data. Better reporting means a clearer picture, and the picture is ugly: most of this exploitation now starts on phones, in games, and on social apps, not on street corners.
That is why V4CR spends as much energy on prevention as on operations. Its free resources on how to safeguard children, grooming warning signs, and red-flag apps are worth a parent’s time whether or not they ever attend an event.
How to Support Veterans For Child Rescue
- Attend: General admission is $75 through the Power 2 Protect ticket page.
- Sponsor a table: Businesses and families can reserve a table for eight at the $750 or $1,000 level.
- Donate: Give online at vets4childrescue.org/donate or text V4CR1 to 44321.
- Volunteer and share: Watch and share Contraland, and explore volunteer roles on the V4CR website.
If you suspect a child is being exploited: call 911 in an emergency, report online exploitation to the NCMEC CyberTipline or 1-800-843-5678, and contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. The Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign also offers free training on recognizing the signs.
Give With Your Eyes Open
Stucci Media gives this advice for every cause we cover, and it applies here too: check where your money goes. V4CR publishes a financials page and maintains a Candid (GuideStar) profile. Good organizations welcome the scrutiny. Informed donors make every legitimate mission stronger, the same way the Carnegie Medal heroes we profiled remind us that protecting others is a choice ordinary people make every day.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is Power 2 Protect?
Saturday, October 10, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene in Oro Valley, Arizona.
How much are tickets?
General admission is $75 and includes lunch, the auctions, the keynote, and the live paintings. Sponsor tables for eight are $750 or $1,000.
Who founded Veterans For Child Rescue?
Former Navy SEAL and Marine veteran Craig “Sawman” Sawyer founded Veterans For Child Rescue in April 2017 to expose and combat child trafficking in the United States.
Can I support Veterans For Child Rescue if I can’t attend?
Yes. You can donate online, text V4CR1 to 44321, buy V4CR merchandise, or volunteer through vets4childrescue.org.
Power 2 Protect is one afternoon in one Arizona town. The work it funds runs every day. Show up, give what you can, and go home knowing the warning signs. That is how a community protects its kids.
