The McConaugheys Bring Awareness, Funds to NFNL

Bianca Davis, CEO of New Friends New Life, shared some staggering statistics with the audience, including a report that Texas ranks second in the nation for sex trafficking.

At their annual luncheon held at the Omni Hotel on Sept. 20, New Friends New Life honored Southwest Airlines and Young Men’s Service League, the luncheon raising $1.1 million to benefit the nonprofit’s mission to restore and empower trafficked and sexually exploited teen girls, women and their children, and drive awareness of the issue and its prevalence. Luncheon co-chairs included JoJo Fleiss and Lisa Rocchio, and honorary co-chairs Robin and Norm Bagwell.

Of award recipient YMSL, the service league comprised of young men and their mothers, Davis said, “Not only is YMSL helping our women and girls have a dignified human experience while participating in programming, this next generation of boys and young men are learning they can be a part of the solution by helping put an end to the exploitation and objectification of women and girls.”

“A Conversation with Camila and Matthew McConaughey,” with the power couple was moderated by NBC 5’s Meredith Land, and topics ranged from their love of Texas to the work of their just keep livin Foundation, support of Uvalde, their New York Times bestselling books, and passion for University of Texas Longhorn football.

Matthew McConaughey referred to the overriding message of hope conveyed in his book, Greenlights, “The idea of the book is that all red lights do eventually turn green. Yellow lights give us a choice—do we slow down or go fast?”

Camila then discussed Women of Today, a community-based website she formed to give women a chance to share with and learn from each other. On the village of women she’s met in Texas, Camila said, “When they say they’re gonna show up, they actually do it.”

The Texas native and his wife discussed the importance of schools getting post-Uvalde safety grants. “This isn’t blue money, this isn’t red money, this is green money,” said Matthew.

Prior to leaving the stage, the couple offered a surprise $100,000 fundraising match, which they led auction-style, resulting in a fast and furious audience match of $100,000.