This is something different, a bicycle ride to raise awareness for missing children. I find this interesting, especially in light of school regulations in Saratoga Springs that prohibit children from riding bikes to school. Interesting that bikes -- apparently a danger to kids -- could be used to promote children's safety. Now, if only we could get the schools to smarten up.

No post tomorrow or Friday, I'll be back in the office and on the blog Saturday and Sunday. Have a good end of the week!

Greater Capital District

Ride for Missing Children – 2008

On behalf of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), we introduce to you the inaugural Ride for Missing Children-Greater Capital District: Friday, September 26, 2008.

The purpose of “The Ride” is:

· To honor the memory of all missing children

· To raise public awareness of the plight of all missing and exploited children and the need for child safety education

· To raise funds to support the missing children poster distribution process and mission of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – New York/Mohawk Valley (NCMEC-NY/Mohawk Valley).

Since September 1995, NCMEC/NY/Mohawk Valley has distributed over 5.2 million posters of 3,603 missing children. 2,153 of those children have been “successfully recovered” !!!

The route for The Ride – 2008 will span 100-miles around the Greater Capital District Region in which we will visit several local schools to bring our message of child safety and abduction prevention. We will start at the University at Albany’s SEFCU Arena and visit elementary schools in Voorheesville, Ravena – Coeymans - Selkirk, Coxsackie – Athens, and Greenville school districts, and also visit children at the Bethlehem YMCA. We will return to Albany for our ride down Madison Avenue, ending above the State Museum, where the Missing Persons’ Remorial was built “to light their way home”.

We Ride 100-miles in one day, as one long unified team of Riders, riding 2 x 2 escorted by The New York State Police and local law enforcement of the jurisdictions through which we ride. The Ride stops at schools for educational Rest Stops, with “Silent Tributes” to missing children, recovered children, and fallen officers along the way.

Together we will work toward our mission:
to make our children safer …one child at a time.