Congratulations to MoCHIP on TEN incredible years of community service helping to keep Missouri children safe! Where many community programs gain success then lose momentum, sometimes folding completely, MoCHIP has continually flourished under the direction of countless Masonic volunteers set on making a difference.

It was the Missouri Masonic Children’s Foundation that realized the lacking systems that were meant to help recover children who had gone missing or were abducted. It was then a committee was formed and plan was devised to establish a time-sensitive recovery program that would become the Missouri Child Identification & Protection Program. In 2005, MoCHIP was launched with a commitment to an ongoing safety program to help protect Missouri’s babies, children, teens and young adults.  Ten years later, MoCHIP is here stronger than ever with 205,265 children processed through our thorough Amber Alert compatible program.

What began with a dozen enthusiastic Freemason’s and a few borrowed laptops, MoCHIP now consists of 7 regions covering the state Missouri, 126 regional coordinators and team members, 87 computers, 17 fingerprint scanners and 2 portable, self-contained units. Held on Saturday’s only, to date there have been 1217 events held with the support of 21,161 volunteers. This 10-year milestone is not only a measurement of MoCHIP’s success, but also a clear indication of the increasing value parents place on the MoCHIP program and having their children ID’d. In recent years the program has noted a significant increase in repeat customers, parents who bring their MoCHIP packet back to an event to be updated.

MoCHIP has been deemed the most comprehensive child identification program available by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Additionally, Governor Jay Nixon has proclaimed that June 23rd is MoCHIP Child Safety Awareness Day in the state of Missouri. We have so much to be proud of including dozens of television appearances, numerous radio spots, hundreds of newspaper articles and thousands of social media followers sharing our educational posts, however we are most proud of the countless hours given to us by our Regional & Technical coordinators, team members and volunteers that make MoCHIP happen. It is their devotion to our program that has returned nine children home safely to their families.

So thank you to everyone that has put forth their time and energy in any capacity to MoCHIP and Happy 10th Anniversary!