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Regularly, stories of missing and abducted children are featured in the media and communities respond to these tragic events with shock and sadness. Parents invariably feel scared and fear for the safety of their own children.
Although the local chapter of Child Find (Ont.) Inc., realizes that the Kitchener-Waterloo area is basically a safe place to live and raise families, we are also aware of the realities of child abuse and abduction.
Organization History
Child Find was established in Ontario in 1983 and was incorporated as a non-profit charitable organization in Kitchener/Waterloo in June 1984. Child Find is a volunteer-based, non-profit, registered charitable organization whose programs and services are endorsed by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. Our mandate is to assist in the search and recovery of missing and abducted children and to educate parents and children on the dangers of abduction in an effort to minimize the risk of abduction.
Program Goals
Child Find meets its first goal by printing and distributing photographs of missing children and by referring individual incidences of missing children to case workers at provincial head offices. Child Find’s second goal, of education, is met in several ways. Upon invitation, volunteers meet with groups of either adults or children to explore the issue of abduction and its prevention.
Child Find programs aimed at the community at large are:
1. Kid Check/All About Me – A program of identification of children supported by a personal record for retention by the parents.
2. Public Awareness – Talking to groups such as PTA’s, service clubs, church groups, etc., about the problem of missing children and what can be done about it.
3. Streetproofing Program – Workshops for children and adults to teach preventive skills about abduction or molestation.
4. Posters/Fliers – The distribution of posters and fliers of missing children to assist in sightings and increase public awareness.
Volunteers
Child Find is primarily a volunteer organization and is governed by a volunteer board of directors. New volunteers are always welcome. All volunteers are required to undergo a security check conducted by the local Police Service.
For further information please call:
(519) 888-0007 or 1-888-701-6391
Please remember that these phones are answered by volunteers, therefore it may be necessary to leave a message and somebody will get back to you as soon as possible. There is also more information on the Child Find Website. – http://www.ontario.childfind.ca
Child Find Ontario
Mid-West Regional Office
111 Water St. N., Suite 2
Kitchener, ON N2H 3B1
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