Protecting children from abduction and locating those who have been abducted is the twofold purpose of AMBER Alerts. They increase the number of people who can help locate an abducted child or deter predators, and they have caused perpetrators to release the abducted child after hearing or seeing the AMBER Alert. Remember, those first three hours are everything to that child and his or her family. Your eyes and action could mean the difference between a life lost and a life saved.

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TAKE ACTION TODAY

  1. Pay attention to AMBER Alert signs on the freeway or on TV.
  2. Sign up to receive AMBER Alert text messages on your cell phone.
  3. Download the AMBER Alert Ticker onto your computer.
  4. If you see or receive an AMBER Alert, don't take it lightly. The perpetrator might be closer than you think.

FACTS

  • AMBER stands for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response" and was created as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, and then brutally murdered.
  • 76% of abducted children who are murdered are dead within 3 hours of the abduction, 88.5% are dead within 24 hours and 99% are dead within 7 days.
  • 443 children have been reunited with their families because of AMBER Alerts.
  • Nearly 100% of cell phones are eligible to receive Wireless AMBER Alerts as text messages.
  • 100% of computers can have the AMBER Alert ticker downloaded onto them.
  • AMBER Alerts are active in all 50 states.

More Ways to Make Your Mondays Matter
Protect yourself with Internet safety
Turn off your TV
Prepare for an emergency

Excerpted from: Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza Copyright © 2008 Every Monday Matters LLC. Excerpted by permission of Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published 09/12/2009

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