Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue told Newsmax Tuesday that the "hand of God" was evident in the movie "The Sound of Freedom," and led him to create the Goya Cares international initiative to combat the estimated $250 billion annual child sex trafficking industry.
"[The movie] is the hand of God," Unanue said during "Wake Up America" Tuesday. "It's a $250 billion business, [child] trafficking along with drugs and arms sales. We worked with a lot of agencies and things like that, but you can't fix it one child at a time [with this kind of] awareness, we need to bring our families back together."
The film, which took in $27 million last week and $78 million since being released two weeks ago, tells the true story of former federal law enforcement agent Tim Ballard who left his government job to rescue children who were being trafficked in Central America, IMDB reports.
The film was initially made for FOX and Disney several years ago, but was only recently released through Angel Studios which makes "The Chosen" series focusing on the gospels and life of Jesus Christ.
Unanue said he got involved with the project when the film's producer, Eduardo Verástegui approached him to raise the money needed to get the rights from Disney, who was holding the movie from distribution.
"That was actually a spiritual moment to it," Unanue said. "Eduardo needed some 'X' amount of money to take it out of Disney. They owned it and he wanted to take it and distribute it because they wanted to shelve it."
He said he gave the money and it lingered with Disney for a while longer until Angel Studios came to distribute it.
His involvement with the film led him to begin the Goya Cares initiative.
"It has been a spiritual calling that led us to this point with the hopes to not just shed light but put an end to this horrific evil," Unanue said in June when he announced the initiative. "We are proud to be a part of this movie since the beginning and support the incredible work of Eduardo Verástegui and Tim Ballard. I founded Goya Cares with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration of 'Sound of Freedom.' "
According to the company, "Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States, has used its international platform to establish Goya Cares as a global initiative, bringing together organizations and businesses to show solidarity and help communities recognize the dangers of child trafficking and the importance of preventative education."
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