In recent years, former NFL star Tim Tebow has become known for his philanthropy off the field. Earlier this year, he showed what an incredible person he is once again when he celebrated his 33rd birthday by asking for help in fighting human trafficking.

The Tim Tebow Foundation has actually been quietly fighting against human trafficking since 2013, but they had kept their involvement a secret in order to protect the victims and the rescue organizations operating on the ground. Now, however, Tebow has decided to go public in the hopes of encouraging others to join his fight.

“We cannot stand silently and passively watch as evil rages on,” Tebow wrote in an op-ed published by Fox News. “No more will we allow girls and boys, many of whom are just children, to be bought and sold as if they were just products for someone else’s personal gain.”

Tebow first learned of the evils of human trafficking when his own father bought four young girls overseas.

“I was in my mid-20’s at the time and completely unaware such a transaction was even possible. Surely I had misunderstood him,” he recalled. “People buy groceries. Shoes. Annual passes to Disney World. They don’t buy other people. But I had heard him correctly. My dad had opened up his wallet and bought as many girls as he could with the cash he had on hand.”

He had no safe home to take these girls to, so the Tim Tebow Foundation built one for them. Since then, countless human trafficking victims have been rescued by Tebow’s foundation.

“Meeting some of these survivors in person has been more than just a privilege, it has literally been life-changing,” he said.

Experts say that around 40 million victims are trapped in human trafficking today, and $150 billion is generated from it every year.

“We are actively responding to the crisis by partnering with those executing physical rescue missions and those providing for the immediate needs of survivors,” states the Tim Tebow Foundation website. “We are deeply committed to supporting survivors’ long-term recovery through communities of care, providing them with tools for physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual healing; thus empowering their liberation from the cycle of trauma abuse in their lives and find their new life of freedom in Christ.”

Find out more about Tebow’s three-step plan to fight human trafficking in the video below.