Corporate, Private Sponsors for Special Event Needed!

Project Jason is planning the first retreat for families of missing persons. The weekend retreat, planned for Summer 2009, is designed to help heal the bodies, minds and spirits of those families affected by a missing family member. Other conferences deal effectively with disseminating information about the legal and social implications of missing persons and what actions to take.

This retreat is, instead, is designed specifically to help the families understand the effects of shock on the body and the emotional issues attached. The weekend retreat will provide psychological counseling, lectures about coping mechanisms, and therapy for the body as well.

Since dealing with a missing person can often deplete financial resources, our desire is that this retreat will be completely free to families who want to attend.

Can you help? We need only $18,000 to give this gift to all the families who plan to attend.

Inquiries should go to Kelly Jolkowski at kelly.jolkowski@projectjason.org

SLIllustrated was kind enough to devote an entre issue of their magazine to altruistic and nonprofit work going on in Second Life. Thank you Ariel and Dadist!

You can read it at:

http://www.slillustrated.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/sept.pdf

Here is a new article about Kelly Jolkowski and Project Jason in this month’s issue of Omaha Family Magazine. It begins around page 19. Enjoy!

http://www.omahafamily.com/Oct_08_ebook/Oct_08_issue.pdf

NCI, Garden for the Missing  and Project Jason  a nonprofit organization which assists families of the missing nationwide invite you to a special event  to provide you with information that we hope you never need.

 Kelly Jolkowski, is President and founder of Project Jason.  She will be sharing information about her own experiences when her son Jason disappeared, and her organization”s activities  in second life. We will then have an opportunity for questions and answers about what to do should  someone in our own lives go “missing”.

Personal ID Kits that can be used in real life will be available for all who attend.

 Please join us Sunday September 28th at 2pm SLT/5EST at NCI Nova Civis

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nova%20Civis%20Caledon/175/60/36

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

PLEASE ANNOUNCE AND PLAN TO ATTEND

Missing Persons Group Celebrates 14 Years

CUE Center for Missing Persons to Hold Public Event with Prizes and Free Fingerprinting

Wilmington, N.C. – While it’s the CUE Center’s birthday, the all-volunteer missing person’s organization is giving a gift at a celebration this Saturday to mark the group’s 14^th year of service working on missing persons cases nationwide.

            Monica Caison became a tireless advocate for the missing after being exposed to the families of missing persons at least three times before she was 25 years old. In 1994, she singlehandedly started the non-profit Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing Persons from a tiny back yard shed and a mere $76.00 dollars in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Now, the non-profit group, which is entirely funded by donations, has volunteers aiding the centers mission and receives calls for help from across the country. Further, CUE boasts an all-volunteer network made up of more than 8,000 people and search groups — all of whom share the same goals: to find the missing, to advocate for their causes, and to support their families through what is often the most confusing and desperate times of their lives.

            With direct experience working on the more than 8,700 cases that have passed through her organization, Mrs. Caison has become a nationally recognized authority on missing persons and dedicated advocate for the people they leave behind. She has been featured in Reader’s Digest, People Magazine, and Larry King Live and has received several national awards-recognition for her work, to include cold cases of the missing. 

            The public is invited to join CUE’s volunteers for a birthday celebration with free fingerprinting, give-aways and a live drawing for a laptop computer donated by long-time CUE business sponsor Best Rentals of Wilmington.

WHERE: Best Rentals 37 South Kerr Ave., Wilmington

WHEN:    Saturday, September 20

TIME:      2 – 5 p.m. (Laptop drawing will be held at 4)

Kelly Jolkowski to speak about missing persons and how to make an ID kit for your entire family.

When: September 28, 2 SL time
Roughly 45 minutes in length
Where: NCI — specific NCI campus TDB but probably Caledon
Kelly and her husband have lived for seven years not knowing what became of their son. After Jason disappeared, the Jolkowski’s found what other families had found and something that is always found out the hard way – that there are few resources for families of missing adults.

The Jolkowski’s vowed in founding Project Jason ithat no family should have to be left alone and without resources in a heartbreaking situation where time is so critical.

Just a couple of the many accomplishments: the organization has assisted more than 400 families of missing persons, has distributed more than 50,000 missing persons posters, and has given away 13,500 personal ID kits.

Kelly will talk about her ordeal with her missing son, the successes of Project Jason as it approaches its five-year anniversary, current programs that let the public (YOU!) get involved in helping to find missing persons, and the importance of creating I.D. Kits for every member of your family. The kits are FREE and Kelly will tell you how to get yours.

She will also discuss Project Jason’s activities in Second Life.

If you want to attend, IM Ronnie Rhode in-world.

Looking for a chance to help the cause of missing persons? Here is a great opportunity! It is the Awareness Angels Network

With your membership, you’ll receive notifications via email about new missing person cases, updates on current cases, and recovered persons.

It’s a fact that one in six missing persons are found as a result of a visual aid, such as a billboard or a poster, thus the importance of poster dissemination in missing person cases. Placing posters is an easy way for you to get involved, and it can make a real difference for the families of the missing.

Once you are subscribed, the email notifications you receive include a link to a printable poster for a specific missing person, plus a link to Project Jason’s forum, where you can keep up on the latest case news and information.

We encourage you to:

• Print copies of this poster and display them near your home, at your workplace and in public places.
• Give copies of this poster to friends and associates who can place posters near their homes and workplaces.
• Give copies to friends or associates who travel so they can place the posters in more wide-reaching areas

When the missing person is located, we will notify you. At that time, you will be asked to remove any indoor, outdoor and Internet postings of this person.

To read more, click on the image at the beginning of this article.

Project Jason Personal ID Kit

An average of 2,000 children per day disappear in the United States. Would you know what to do if your child or other loved one disappeared? Would you be prepared to quickly take the steps necessary to locate your missing loved one?

Many parents would not know what to do, and in the face of this tragedy, may find it difficult to produce the critical information needed by law enforcement. Every minute counts. Even though the odds are against this happening, you must be prepared.

It is important to note that you should have a kit filled out and ready to go for each member of the family, from infants to grandparents. You are never too old for a Personal id kit. The tragedy of the missing knows no age boundaries.

A free downloadable Personal ID Kit is provided below by Project Jason. The kit contains a list of the first steps to take in the event your loved one is missing, plus valuable information that law enforcement will need. The kit should be printed on heavier stock paper, kept in a safe place, and updated at least every 6-12 months.

Go to the following link to get your free Project Jason ID Kit: http://www.projectjason.org/education.shtml#idkit

Keeping Kids Safe: New “I.D. Kitty” Mascot to Give Free I.D. Kits in Celebration of Family Safety

I.D. Kitty to debut in Omaha August 23 at the Omaha Royals game, with additional public appearances to follow

It is every parent’s nightmare – your child is here one minute, and out of sight the next. Most often, you can find them quickly. But sometimes, you need to call for help from people nearby and possibly even the police.

An average of 2,000 children per day disappear in the United States. Would you know what to do if your child or other loved one disappeared? Would you be prepared to quickly take the steps necessary to locate your missing loved one?

Meet Project Jason’s I.D. Kitty…

To read the rest, go to http://www.projectjason.org/news08252008.html