Every web site should be involved in at least some public service work. In the broadcast industry, a PSA is a public service announcement; a message given at no charge because the broadcaster or disk jockey or program host/director feels a special responsibility to the organization or social problem discussed.
I have chosen lost/missing/runaway children as a PSA for this website. Children who are lost or missing are frequently sexually exploited in their attempts to merely survive in the world. Other times they are snatched by a non-custodial parent or other adult. Many of you know that my friend Bill Pfeiffer left home at age 14 and got into a situation like this. His father had left the family when Bill was 6; Bill never saw or heard from his father again. Bill 'ran away from home' at age 14 to see the world. He almost got killed by a freight train he was riding. He hoped he would find his father, but he never did. Bill finally returned home to his step-mother when he was 19, which was about the time I met him.
My sister was a run away child as well. She left home at age 16 and was later found living with friends in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (while our parents were living in the Chicago area.) An update, March 12, 2005: Katherine died on the streets of Orlando. We are now attempting to recover her ashes from where they are being stored in Orlando. Final update: August 15, 2005: Katherine's son Justin came to Independence to visit his grandmother and 'Uncle Pat'. He brought Katherine's ashes along. In a small, private ceremony her ashes were scattered on top of our father's grave in Coffeyville. So this long saga finally comes to a close after 30 years. (:
Below are some pictures of such children; children whose parents are grieving today because their child is missing. Click on the individual pictures or other parts of the display for more information on what YOU can do to help. Thanks so much!