May 25, 2010

Ottawa, Ontario – Today, National Missing Children’s Day, Tilly O’Neill Gordon, MP for Miramichi, invites you to take a moment to think about the families of missing children.

“There is no greater fear for a parent than to have a child goes missing,” said Ms. O’Neill Gordon. “Today is a special day to remember those children who are missing and to think about their loved ones, who have to go on day after day without knowing if their children are alive or not.”

National Missing Children’s Day is held every year in May. It is a day to draw attention to the thousands of Canadian children who go missing each year.
Canada’s New Government, in cooperation with provincial and territorial governments, is working to prevent child abduction and return missing children to their legal guardians through the program Our Missing Children (http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/omc-ned).

The program is the result of a partnership between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Border Services Agency, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Department of Justice.

In the evening of May 25th, every Canadians are invited to Turn their porch light for the Light the Way Home campaign, held every year by Missing Children Society of Canada.  Our Light the Way Home campaign runs in conjunction with National Missing Children's Day. The campaign has three aims:

1. Reach millions of Canadians from coast to coast with the message “Turn your porch light on the evening of May 25th to help Light the way home for missing children.”
2. Increase public awareness and involvement in the search for missing children through the distribution of information and photographs of missing children.
3. Raise funds to help Missing Children Society of Canada continue its search for all missing children.

Our lights shining brightly through the darkness on May 25th of each year become a symbol of the hope we all share for the safe return of missing children everywhere. This simple act reassures searching families that their children are not forgotten.

“By lighting our porches tonight, we show our hope and support for the safe return of missing children to their families”, concluded Tilly O’Neill Gordon.