Child identification program scheduled

Greenwood Lake — The New York State Masonic Child Identification Program (CHIP) is coming to the Greenwood Lake Community Center on Windermere Avenue, on Saturday, May 26, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. All Orange County residents are invited to bring their children, age 18 and younger, to participate in this comprehensive program. The system takes an electronic scan of the child’s fingerprints which, along with a digital photo of the child, as well as their important statistics and contact information, is stored on a mini CD-ROM. The data is especially coded so that it can be used immediately by local law enforcement in the case an “Amber-Alert” is required. All materials are given to the accompanying parent for safekeeping. No copies are kept on file and the program is free. This child I.D. event will be conducted by members of Warwick Masonic Lodge No. 544, in cooperation with the Village of Greenwood Lake and Amelia Worley, Miss Empire State Teen 2007. It is estimated that over 250,000 children have already participated in this Masonic program throughout New York State. Masonic Child Identification Programs are held periodically and may be sponsored by any group but are generally sponsored by local Masonic Lodges or Districts as part of their community service effort. Over 1 million children are reported missing in the United States each year, more than 100,000 attempted abductions by non-family members occur in the same period, and over 3,000 American children remain unidentified. For more information about the New York Child Identification Program visit www.nychip.org. For more information about the May 26 event, call the lodge at 987-1578 or 987-1594.