Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Not For Sale’s very own Fellows have rolled up their sleeves to take part in the CNN Freedom Project’s “Fair-trade Chocolate Challenge”.

The awareness campaign invited participants to create a dish using chocolate that was labeled “Fair-trade”, certified by the Rainforest Alliance, or approved by Utz sustainability programs. The Freedom Project challenge was created to bring attention to the tens of thousands of children that toil in cocoa fields every day, many against their will, to create the chocolate bars that many of us enjoy.

“Making the video was a fun way to engage individuals about the issue of child slaves being used to make chocolate around the world,” said Holly Boles, one of the seven Fellows currently working at Not For Sale.

The group of ambitious Fellows, learning to become leaders in the modern-day abolitionist movement, is eagerly waiting to see if their Fair-trade Mexican Chocolate Cake recipe will be selected and shown on CNN International, Eatocracy, and the CNN Freedom Project Blog.

Not For Sale is supportive of any grassroots initiative that promotes the importance of ethically-sourced products, like Fair-trade chocolate, and believes these campaigns have a positive impact. Just last week, the chocolate producer Hershey pledged $10 million over the next five years to educate West African cocoa farmers on improving their trade and combating child labor.

Not For Sale will continue to support Fair-trade chocolate campaigns and put pressure on chocolate companies to enforce policies and procedures that will protect vulnerable communities and children from forced labor.

Click here to learn more about Not For Sale’s own Fair-trade chocolate campaign. Interested in finding out how other companies rate in their supply chain? Download the Not For Sale Free2Work app.