Derby/Shelton Rotary Club

The AMBER Alert System began in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters partnered with law enforcement to develop an early warning system to help find abducted children. AMBER stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and was created as a legacy to 9 year old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas and then brutally murdered.

In May 2003, President George W. Bush signed into law a national AMBER Alert program.

In 2003, The Connecticut Rotary Clubs in District 7980 formed a voluntary partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Safety – Division of State Police, the Connecticut Chiefs of Police Association, the University of New Haven – Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Sciences and the general public to aid in the safe recovery of abducted children by making available an immediate up-to-date descriptive of the abducted child.

The Rotary AMBER Alert Child ID program is different from other ID programs, in that the parents or guardians of participating children receive a wallet sized laminated card with a picture of the child, a unique AMBER ID number and minimal, yet essential, information designed to aid in the safe recovery of an abducted child. The encrypted information is stored in a secured National AMBER Alert database. The information on the cards and in the database cannot endanger the child. It does not identify the child by name, address, or school or event location. The encrypted information is useful only to law enforcement in case of an emergency.

Participating Rotary clubs hold AMBER Child ID events regularly across the state. More information can be found at http://www.danburyrotary.org/AmberAlertCalendar.htm

The Derby-Shelton Rotary Club is looking for interested businesses and organizations interested in having the AMBER Alert Child ID program at their events. Also the Club is looking for sponsors for upcoming Child ID events. A sponsorship is $300 and the sponsoring company is prominently listed on the back of all the cards printed at the specific event. Sponsorship forms are found here.

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