Windsor Masonic Lodge holds MoCHIP Event

Additional Information

Deemed “one of the most comprehensive child recovery and identification programs in the
nation,” by The National Center for Exploited and Missing Children (NCEMC), the Missouri
Masonic Child Identification & Protection Program (MoCHIP) is solely sponsored by the
Masonic Children’s Foundation of the Grand Lodge of Missouri Masons. As more than 150,000
Missouri children have found, 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.
Did you know an estimated 800,000 children are reported missing each year – more than 2,000
children every day? An estimated 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys will be sexually victimized before
age 18. Analysis by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) shows that
approximately 35 percent of attempted abductions of children occurred when the child was going
to and from school or school-related activities. No parent wants to believe that the unimaginable
could happen to them. The peace of mind MoCHIP provides to Missouri families is invaluable.
Once the child is processed through the program, 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.
Locally, this year’s event will be held at Windsor Masonic Lodge #29, 107 N. Commercial St in
Windsor Missouri on Saturday, 29 September between 10am and 2 pm. Parents are urged to
gather pertinent information about their child 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 or sufficient supplies will be made available at the
MoCHIP event. Height charts and scales will be available at the event to facilitate the most
current details regarding the child. As would be expected, security and privacy are of utmost
importance. Therefore, all information and specimens collected on site are 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.
In this day and age of caution, we urge all parents to do the most proactive thing they can do to
safeguard their children - PLEASE have your child ID'd. Amber alert compatible programs such
as MoCHIP and other state identification programs can have your child's vital information,
digital photos and fingerprints throughout the country within a matter of minutes. It’s as simple
as loading a MoCHIP CD into a computer directly from a police officer’s automobile and
entered into the Amber Alert system. It very well could be the difference between a positive
result and the unthinkable! For more information regarding Windsor’s MoCHIP event, please
contact Mr. Wes Wiley at 660-647-2266, Mr. Ed Vought at 660-647-2547 or Mr. Jim Heim at
660-223-3293. Information on becoming a MoCHIP corporate partner, to locate future events in
your area or to make a donation, please contact MCF Coordinator, Nicholas R. Cichielo at
www.mochip.org. Information on NCEMC can be found at www.missingchildren.com.
Information on the Amber Alert program can be found at www.amberalert.gov.