SC CUs Provide 670,000 ID Kits to Area Kids

GREENVILLE, S.C. – In response to increasing news of missing children and of families separated in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, South Carolina’s 86 credit unions are providing more than 670,000 kits to students in grades K-12 via the school systems, at no cost to families. The move marks the largest child identification effort in the history of the state and the second largest nationwide. In Greenville County, local credit unions have partnered with Greenville County Schools to provide each of the more than 65,000 students a child identification kit. Kits will then be distributed by schools to parents in late April and early May. “We are excited Greenville County Schools and area credit unions have partnered locally in our efforts to help public school students statewide,” said South Carolina Credit Union League President Garry Parks. “When the statistics show more than 800,000 children are missing each year-one every 40 seconds-it is time a concerted program is applied to the problem.” “The Greenville County School System is proud to partner with upstate credit unions to provide the child ID kits and encourages all parents to have their children complete these kits,” added Safe and Drug Free Schools Coordinator Monica Wills. “Efforts to distribute and complete the kit are well worth the time to ensure that children are safe.” The American Football Coach’s Association’s National Child ID Program was created in 1997 and is the largest child identification effort ever conducted. The NCIP is well supported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, local law enforcement, and CUNA.