Child identification program to be available during Bushwhacker Days

On Saturday, June 12, parents will have the opportunity to create a free child identification kit through a program from the local Masonic Lodge, the Osage Lodge, at 221 West Walnut, Nevada, Mo., from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

A press release from area Masons notes that no parent wants to believe that the unimaginable could happen to them, though nearly 2,000 children are reported missing or abducted in the United States each day.

The program consists of five major components -- digital photographs, digital fingerprints, vital child information and emergency contacts, a dental bite impression, and two laminated ID cards. The photographs, fingerprints, and child data are burned onto a mini-CD that is compatible with the Amber Alert system already in place. The dental impression provides a virtual diagram of the child's biting surface, which, like fingerprints is unique to each individual, and further supplies enough saliva to provide a DNA sample that can also be used as scent source for trained canine search teams. Combined, this five-part process provides a dramatic, time-sensitive recovery tool for authorities.

Once the child is processed through the program, which generally takes only 15 minutes, the parent is armed with a single pre-printed envelope that instructs authorities in the event of an emergency, something a parent in crisis would undoubtedly have trouble with, and a proactive measure to combat the time sensitivity involved in recovery, the press release said.

Within a matter of minutes the MoCHIP CD can be loaded into a computer directly form a police officers automobile and entered into the Amber Alert system.

Girls and boys ages 11 - 21 are statistically most susceptible to become missing and the "MoCHIP Packet," that contains all the child's vital information, has been tested six times of which the group is aware, and resulted in all children -- teenagers--being returned safely and promptly to their parents' care.

On the day of the MoCHIP event, parents are urged to gather pertinent information about such as, doctor, dentist, and emergency contact and phone numbers, allergies, medications, and parent work, cell, and assorted phone numbers. Information Collection Forms and Permission slips can be downloaded from the mochip.org Web site and filled out ahead of time. Height charts and scales will be available at the event to facilitate the most current details regarding the child. Security and privacy are of utmost importance. All information and specimens are collected on site, processed and provided to the parent or legal guardian in a yellow envelope. At the end of each event, databases are erased using state-of-the-art software. The only item retained by the Masonic Children's Foundation is the signed permission slip, the press release said.

Deemed "one of the most comprehensive child recovery and identification programs in the nation," by The National Center for Exploited and Missing Children, NCEMC, and the leader of the Take 25 campaign push this past May, holding more than 20 Take 25 events -- MoCHIP is solely sponsored by the Masonic Children's Foundation of the Grand Lodge of Missouri Masons. Visit www.mochip.org for more information,

For more information on becoming a corporate partner or to make a donation, contact MCF Coordinator, Nicholas R. Cichielo by phone at (636) 530-6069 or send an e-mail to nick.mochip@

charter.net, or visit the calendar at www.mochip.

org to locate future events.