NEWS RELEASE
MASONICH.I.P. ONTARIO
*************************
No parent wants to believe that the unimaginable could happen to them, though nearly 55 children are reported missing to police in Ontario every day (164 every day in Canada).
According to Canada’s Our Missing Children network and Child Find Ontario, a current good-quality photo is the single-most effective tool in locating a missing child. Parents are encouraged to be prepared by assembling their child’s photos and vital information ahead of time. Enter MASONICh.I.P. Ontario (Child Identification Program) — deemed “one of the most comprehensive child recovery and identification programs in the nation” by the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children brought exclusively to Ontario families by dedicated Masons free of charge.
Sponsored by the Grand Lodge A.F. and A.M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario, the MASONICh.I.P. program consists of five major components — digital photographs; digital video; digital fingerprints; vital child information; and an intra-oral swab for DNA. The photographs, video, fingerprints, and child data are burned onto a CD that is compatible with Amber Alert. The intra-oral swab provides a DNA sample. Combined, this five-part process provides a dramatic, time-sensitive recovery tool for authorities.
Parents are urged to gather pertinent information about their child prior to the event such as an emergency contact name, address and phone numbers, distinguishing marks and scars, allergies, medications, and parent’s work, cell, and other phone numbers, and the child’s height and weight. Security and privacy are of the utmost importance. All information and specimens are collected on site, processed, and provided to the parent or guardian in an envelope — along with the sentiment of all the Masonic volunteers: “We hope you never need to use it.” After each child is processed, the data is deleted and erased from the computer using state-of-the-art software. The only item retained by MASONICh.I.P. Ontario is the signed permission slip.
The Masonic brethren of Ontario and their volunteers are pleased to offer this program to our communities free of charge.
Sponsoring Masonic Lodge: Huronia Lodge No. 348
Event date and time: 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 19, 2024, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 20, 2024
Event location: Midland Spring Home Show, North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre, 527 Len Self Blvd., Midland
For further information visit huroniamasoniclodge348.ca/child-identification-program.
*************************
