Tiny feet of fury flew freely at Oxford Elementary School May 15 as students of North Oakland Tae Kwon Do participated in a Kick-A-Thon to raise money for the Kid-Safe Network’s Rapid Child Search program.
Each student had three minutes to do 100 kicks into bags held by brave parents.
Flat donations and per-kick contributions resulted in $2,800 to help purchase digital cameras, laptop computers and other equipment.
These items will be used to create highly secure on-line profiles of children in the north Oakland County area, free of charge, that can be immediately used by law enforcement agencies and broadcast media outlets in the event a child is lost or goes missing.
‘It’s a good cause,? said Tae Kwon Do Instructor Gary Skarritt, a third-degree black belt and Level One Field Agent for the Kid-Safe Network. ‘I’m hoping the community will help support this because it’s all about keeping the kids safe.?
Based in Detroit, the Kid-Safe Network is a proactive, nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of child abuse, molestation and abduction of children.
Field agents, like Skarritt, are asked to collect and disseminate information about lost and missing children, assist local law enforcement agencies and act as a liason between the Kid-Safe Network and their neighborhood.
‘We’ll be working hand-in-hand with the Oxford Police Department,? Skarritt said. ‘I want every one of my students back here the next day.?
Skarritt, of Orion Township, has been with North Oakland Tae Kwon Do, a martial arts school run through Oxford Township Parks and Recreation, for the past 18 years. He took over the program in 2005.
‘It’s free to register an on-line profile of your child,? according to Ed Copley, founder and international director of The Kid-Safe Network.
Each profile includes three current photographs of a child plus vital statistics such as first name, height, weight, race, hair and eye color and sex.
‘Parents can update the photo every six months if they want,? Copely noted.
There’s also room to add information about any unique characteristics such as tattoos, piercings, body marks and other notes.
No last names, addresses, zip codes, dates of birth or phone numbers are included in the profiles, just in case the system is ever hacked into, Copley noted.
Child profiles are securely stored at www.kidsafenetwork.com and only accessible via an internet access code held by parents.
‘Parents can change that code anytime they want to,? Copley said.
In the event a child goes missing, parents can use their code to provide 9-1-1 operators, law enforcement agencies and broadcast media instant access to recent photos and pertinent information.
‘Through this remarkable system, what used to take an average of two hours is accomplished in just minutes,? according to www.kidsafenetwork.com.
‘It’s the fastest system in the world for recovering and starting the search for children,? Copely said.
‘We can immediately be out looking for them, posting fliers with their pictures and all their info,? Skarritt noted.