Just 15, He Leads Fight to Abolish Slavery

March 15, 2007 — -- To the casual observer, 15-year-old Zach Hunter is a typical ninth-grader. He loves listening to music, reading and playing tennis.

But one of his interests is anything but ordinary. Hunter is a 21st century abolitionist. His mission is to abolish slavery in the world, to liberate the millions of men, women and children forced to work uncompensated or indentured.

Ending slavery been a passion of Hunter's since he was 12 years old, when he first learned about it from his mother, Penny Hunter.

"There are actually 27 million slaves in the world. I was really surprised [to find that out]," he said. "And I had all these emotions about it and I wasn't sure what to think about the idea of having modern slavery, you know. But I didn't think it was enough to just have emotions."

So instead of just feeling, Hunter sprung into action. He started the campaign Loose Change to Loosen Chains, a student-run fundraiser to help free modern-day slaves.

Hunter estimates that Americans have roughly $10 billion in loose change lying around their houses. In just two weeks of fundraising at his high school, he raised $6,000.

Addressing his fellow high school students and speaking before huge crowds of adults, Hunter travels the country spreading his message. Through his campaign, Hunter has heard about the horrific experiences of many modern-day slaves. He often tells people the story of an Indian boy named Rakesh.

"He was a rug loom slave making rugs because his parents were poor or may have gotten into a debt," Hunter said. "A rug loom slave often cuts his fingers on the strings that are pulled so tight across he loom."

On top of that, if Rakesh came to work late or didn't perform the way his master wanted, he faced the possibility of being beaten. Through the help of Free the Slaves, one of the partner organizations Hunter supports, Rakesh was freed and many of his fellow slaves are back in school.

Hunter credits Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as one of his heroes.

"He really empowered a whole race to carry out a peaceful revolution and that was really what he led, a peaceful revolution and that's what we're basically trying to do," he said.