| More than 2,100 children are reported missing each day. Port Orchard’s Bay Ford wants to help reduce this number and help protect South Kitsap children by hosting a “Commitment to Kids” Safety ID Day.
A partnership among Ford Blue Oval Certified dealers, actress Jamie Lee Curtis and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the “Commitment to Kids” program is a nationwide child identification effort to keep kids safe.
“Our status as a Blue Oval Certified dealership means that we are personally committed to our customers both in and out of the vehicle,” said Amy Wood, Customer Relations Manager of the dealership. “Our “Commitment to Kids” program extends that personal commitment beyond our customers to all parents and children of Port Orchard.”
On Friday, June 15, from 11:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., parents can bring their children to Bay Ford to receive free child safety I.D. kits. A free photograph will be taken of each child for the I.D. booklet and instructions will be provided for parents to complete their child’s physical description information. A Port Orchard police officer will also be on hand to fingerprint the children for the I.D. booklets. Parents keep their child’s completed I.D. kits and are urged to repeat the identification process every six months to maintain updated information.
“If we can help keep safe or locate even one missing child, then our program will have been a tremendous success,” said Jim O’Connor, president of Ford Division and Ford Motor Company vice president.
More than 750,000 children were reported missing last year – more than 2,100 each day – and 2,896 cases of online child exploitation were prosecuted in 1999, up 700 from the previous year.
Bay Ford is located at 1215 East Bay Street, Port Orchard. For information, contact the dealership at (360) 876-4484, bayford@bayford.com or www.bayford.com. | 
