For release: May 12, 2008

Contacts: 

David Baldwin, Midwest Forensics Resource Center
   (515) 294-2069
Saren Johnston, Public Affairs
   (515, 294-3474

AMES LABORATORY TO SPONSOR “SAFE KIDS SUNDAY”

Event to Observe National Missing Children’s Day

AMES, Iowa –The United States Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, in cooperation with the Ames Police and the Ames Public Library, will sponsor Safe Kids Sunday, a free child photo ID event, on Sunday, May 18, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Avenue.

Volunteers from the host organizations will be on hand to help create child photo ID kits for families attending the event.  Information gathered will include each child’s picture, fingerprints, and height and weight – crucial information to have readily available should a child go missing.

In addition to completing child ID kits, families will have the opportunity to attend Internet safety presentations developed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  The presentations help educate parents by detailing online risks, statistics, resources and tips for keeping children safer online.

Safe Kids Sunday is being held in connection with Take 25, a campaign of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  Take 25’s goal is to heighten awareness of children’s personal safety issues and encourage parents to take 25 minutes to talk to their children about safety and abduction prevention.  The Take 25 campaign was started to commemorate National Missing Children’s Day on May 25.  First proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, the day serves as an annual reminder to the nation to renew efforts to reunite missing children with their families, remember those who are still missing, and make child protection a national priority.

Statistics from the National Center for Missing and Exploited children show that every year in America an estimated 800,000 children are reported missing – more than 2,000 children each day.  By making it a priority to attend Ames Laboratory’s Safe Kids Sunday event on May 18, residents of Ames and surrounding communities have a valuable opportunity to protect their children and help make them safer by creating and taking home completed photo ID kits for each child in their family

Ames Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory operated for the DOE by Iowa State University. The Lab conducts research into various areas of national concern, including the synthesis and study of new materials, energy resources, high-speed computer design, and environmental cleanup and restoration .

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