Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), a non-profit organization founded by Tim Ballard, was just named “Best of State” in the “Humanitarian Organization” category. We are extremely proud to be recognized for our dedication to children around the world who are subject to the horrors of slavery. The Utah Best of State Awards were created to recognize outstanding individuals, organizations and businesses in Utah that exhibit excellence in the community, with the purpose of sharing examples of success and triumph in worthy areas so that others will be “inspired to reach a little higher, to try a little harder, and to work a little smarter for our dreams and goals” (Best of State Purpose).

Over 100 judges review the nominations and judge each nomination individually on its own merits and not ranked against other nominees in the same category. This process makes this award even more significant for O.U.R.

We believe that the primary reason O.U.R. was chosen for this prestigious award is our promise, mission and commitment to rescue children from slavery around the world. O.U.R. rescue teams (called Jump Teams) are comprised of highly skilled ex-Navy Seal’s, CIA and other operatives that work in conjunction with and in full cooperation with local police forces and foreign governments to liberate children around the world, many of whom are trafficked as sex and labor slaves. To date, we’ve rescued over 265 children and made over 50 arrests of traffickers. We use cutting-edge computer technology and human intelligence to find child predators in the darkest corners of the world and help local law enforcement liberate enslaved children and dismantle the criminal networks. And we rely solely donations to fund our rescue missions.

O.U.R. thanks the Best of State organizations and its members for this award. We are honored our efforts are recognized and are grateful to share our example of success and triumph in what we consider one of the world’s truly worthy endeavors. We hope all will be inspired to reach a little higher, to try a little harder, and to work a little smarter to help abolish the practice of child sex and labor slavery around the world.