Rockford Sun

National Missing Children’s Day brings attention to the hundreds of thousands of children that go missing in the United States every year. While most children who go missing eventually return home, even one child not returning is too many.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s database, in Illinois alone there are currently 114 missing children. Each one of these children has a name, a face, a family, and a story. Each one of these children deserves to be seen, to be found, and to be brought home.

The mission of this day is to recognize the pain of those families who are missing their loved ones and also to remind ourselves of the shared responsibility we have as a community to protect our most valuable assets. It’s a call to be vigilant, to pay attention to the missing children posters in our communities, to share Amber Alerts, to stay informed, and most importantly, to never stop looking out for each other.

On this National Missing Children’s Day, let’s all take a moment to reflect on what we can do to help. Each of us can make a difference, and even the smallest act can lead to a child being found.

Every child deserves a safe childhood. Every missing child deserves to be found.