ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The NATSO Foundation has announced that the truckstop and travel plaza industry will now be engaged in efforts to safely recover abducted children. In support of the U.S. Department of Justice's AMBER Alert program, the NATSO Foundation will work with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) as a secondary AMBER Alert distributor. AMBER Alerts containing information about abducted children will now be displayed at truckstops and travel plazas across the country.
NATSO made the announcement to help commemorate National AMBER Alert Awareness Day. January 13 marked the 16th anniversary of the abduction of Amber Hagerman, whose tragic abduction and murder led to the formation of the AMBER Alert program.
"We are proud to work with the NATSO Foundation to extend the reach of the AMBER Alert program," said Ernie Allen, NCMEC president and CEO. "By utilizing the truckstop and travel plaza industry, we will be able to mobilize more people in the search for abducted children and hopefully bring more children home safely."
As a secondary AMBER Alert distributor, the NATSO Foundation will electronically distribute geographically targeted AMBER Alerts to nearly 1,150 truckstop and travel plaza member locations across the country. The system is designed to deliver the potentially life-saving alerts and updates to locations in the area of an abduction as soon as the NATSO Foundation is notified by NCMEC that an AMBER Alert has been issued.
Truckstops and travel plazas will share the potentially life-saving alerts with their customers through electronic displays, posters and signage. The NATSO Foundation will also feature the AMBER Alerts on its website, www.NATSOFoundation.org.
"The truckstop and travel plaza industry is proud to enlist its support in the work to safely recover abducted children," said NATSO Foundation president and CEO Lisa Mullings. "There is no cause more important than the safety of a child."
The NATSO Foundation is the research, education and public outreach subsidiary of NATSO Inc. (founded as the National Association of Truck Stop Operators). The foundation is organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
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