Child ID program offers information for safety

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More than 30 children and their parents took advantage of a free child identification program offered Wednesday at Franklin School.

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Members of Corvallis No. 14 A.F. & A.M. Masonic Lodge photographed and fingerprinted children after their Safety Town session at the school. Their siblings also were encouraged to participate.

Photos and fingerprints were scanned and printed out on a sheet that parents can fill with their children's vital statistics, such as height and weight. The sheet also includes a space where a DNA sample - such as a strand of hair - could be attached.

A nationwide Masonic effort, the child identification program aims to help parents assist law enforcement agencies in the event of a disappearance or abduction. None of the information that is collected is kept by the lodges; it's given directly to parents.

This is the first year that the Corvallis No. 14 A.F. & A.M. Masonic Lodge has offered the program. Before Wednesday, the lodge offered the program two other times at Safety Town. Seventy-five

children participated in the two events.

"It's quick and painless," said Greg O'Neal, a Corvallis No. 14 A.F. & A.M. Masonic Lodge member. "Parents seem to love it. Nobody has said no to it so far."

Wendy Evans' three sons - Ryan, Caleb and Noah - all had their photos and fingerprints taken, with mixed reactions. Three-year-old Caleb was shy and fussy, while 16-month-old Noah giggled and smiled. He especially liked pressing his small thumbs against a pad that electronically scanned his prints onto the computer.

"I had fun doing it," Ryan, 5, said. "I've never done fingerprinting like that. I have used paint with my friends."

Heather Donaldson had her sons, Kaden, 5, and 7-month-old Eliott, photographed and fingerprinted. She plans to keep their sheets posted on a bulletin board in the family kitchen so they are easily accessible.

She said the Kyron Horman case serves as a sobering reminder of that dangers that children face daily. The 7-year-old boy disappeared on June 4 from Skyline Elementary School in Portland.

"The day after it happened, we talked about it with Kaden," Donaldson said. "We wanted him to understand ‘stranger danger' and that things can happen anywhere. From big places like a fair to at school. You just never know, so you have to be ready."