The National Center & @CCOutdoorNA Launch ‘Summer of Hope’
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Washington, and Clear Channel Outdoor Americas, New York, have kicked off their ‘Summer of Hope’ billboard initiative, a national digital out-of-home campaign calling attention to the plight of missing children and their families.
Beginning today and leading into back-to-school time, Clear Channel will display images of missing children from Washington D.C., Northern Virginia and Maryland on the company’s digital bus shelters in Washington D.C. and digital billboards in Baltimore.
The initiative will expand in the coming weeks to other major cities, including Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles.
The ‘Summer of Hope’ is part of the ‘Be Here for Kids’ campaign launched this past May by NCMEC and CCOA. ‘Be Here for Kids’ is a year-long national child safety awareness effort using digital billboards to communicate life-saving public safety messages, including “Never Wait 24 Hours to Report a Missing Child.”
Child safety continues to be a critical issue nationwide. In 2014, there were more than 460,000 reports of missing children made to law enforcement in the US. As well, law enforcement agencies have seen a dramatic increase in cases of child sexual exploitation in recent years. Last year there were more than one million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation made to NCMEC’s CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for these crimes.
According to NCMEC, photos are one of the most vital tools for law enforcement when searching for a missing child, and have the power to produce leads that can help law enforcement give families answers and help safely recover children.
The Clear Chanel out-of-home activation enables NCMEC to reach as broad an audience as possible by distributing photos of missing children in targeted areas that can aid law enforcement with a search.
The ‘Be Here for Kids’ campaign was launched May 25, 2015 – National Missing Children’s Day. It is a digital out-of-home campaign to educate people across the country about the most important issues related to missing and exploited children, and direct them to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s free safety resources. The campaign has been showcased across the country in nearly all of Clear Channel Outdoor’s 38 U.S. markets including Washington D.C., Chicago and New York.
CCOA’s latest media support in conjunction with the ‘Be Here for Kids’ campaign allows the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to enhance its ‘Summer of Hope’ social media initiative by highlighting missing children on digital billboards throughout the country. The billboards include the child’s picture and direct the public to call 1-800-THE-LOST with any information concerning the disappearance or current whereabouts of the missing child.
“Our latest effort with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children strengthens our commitment to making a difference in the lives of missing children and protecting others through greater public awareness,” said Toby Sturek, executive vice-president, specialty businesses, CCOA. “Since 2008, we have used our digital billboards as a tool of local, state and federal law enforcement to aid in the apprehension of WANTED criminals and in AMBER Alerts for missing children. We know from experience and individual testimonials that our medium has been successful in helping other victims connect with a lifeline to safety. I join NCMEC in hoping that that anyone with information about these children will reach out and call 1-800-THE–LOST.”
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