Melissa Grund wouldn’t want to think about the possibility of anything happening to her five-year-old son Johnny. However, in a world filled with more violence and with streets not being as safe as they used to be, she felt that she’d rather be prepared than sorry. So when she heard about the KlaasKids Foundation hosting a safety awareness campaign in her area for the kids, she took the opportunity to come out and support what she felt was a worthy cause. “I want to be able to protect my child in the event that he is missing or something happens to him,” she said. “I feel like many parents when I say that I want my child to be safe. But sometimes we may not be able to prevent things from happening. Organizations like KlaasKids gives parents hope that we have options and we can use preventive methods to protect our kids.” As part of the Union City’s efforts to implement child safety programs, the city initiated a two-day KlaasKids Print-A-Thon where nearly 200 residents came out to register their children and have records of their kids in the event that they are ever missing. Co-sponsored by the General Motors Corp. and supported by the Union City Department of Public Safety and the Police Department’s DARE Unit, parents met on Friday, Feb. 4 and Saturday, Feb. 5 at Roy’s Chevrolet , 3601 Kennedy Blvd., with the KlaasKids Foundation to have their children fingerprinted and photographed. “I feel that what is being done here is a great way to reach out to families in an inner-city area,” said Ken Grasso, service director of Roy’s Chevrolet, who came with his 10-year-old daughter Brittney on Saturday and helped organize the event. “Our purpose was to reach out to parents and offer them the information they need. As a parent, I feel that having this awareness may just avoid a parent having to go through what other parents have experienced. We need to work together to provide a safe environment for all our children.” The KlaasKids Foundation was originally started in 1993 in California by Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly was kidnapped and murdered. Dealing with the loss of his child, Klaas began the foundation in an effort to initiate child safety programs that would promote violence awareness and education for parents and children. Michael Berkes, National Coordinator for the foundation, spoke about how it has helped parents become aware of their options in protecting their children. “What we have found is that often parents are uncomfortable talking about the whole subject,” said Berkes, who has been with the foundation for two years. “It’s something no one wants to think about. But our goal here is not to make people paranoid, but to make them alert. Safety comes from awareness and that’s what we want to share with them today.” Even parents welcomed the idea of having such an event in their neighborhood as they came around on both days to get a record on their child. “It’s a good thing that they have something like this for us,” said Thomas Hill of West New York, who brought his 9-year-old daughter Jency after getting a notice from her school in Union City. “Unfortunately, these things do happen, and having a record on my child makes me feel that if anything did happen, I would have something on her to find her. It’s a community effort. If we don’t take the first step, who will?” Another parent who brought her son in to get registered agreed. “I think it was worth my time to bring my son to do this,” said Ofelia Guiterrez of North Bergen, whose 10-year-old son Gustavo attends St. Francis Academy in Union City. “It’s important for parents to get involved because God forbid it happened to their child, at least they would have a record to help the police find them.” According to Berkes, who spent Friday and Saturday greeting parents, the Union City Police Department has gone above and beyond to help with bringing awareness to families in the community. Lt. Grover Reinhardt, who is in charge of the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) unit in Union City, commended the work the officers have done to be active with the parents in the area. “It’s great this is taking place,” said Reinhardt. “There are efforts constantly being made for our children and this is one example of the hard work that can be done to protect them above all else. By the police and the community working together, I’d like to see more programs like this take place for our kids.” As a treat for the kids that came out with their families to get their fingerprints and photographs taken, they were given grab bags with a certificate to McDonald’s, a junior police badge, a DARE sticker and some snacks for their participation in the day. Though some of the kids didn’t realize what coming out on an early Saturday morning with mom and dad was about, they still enjoyed themselves and said it was a great experience. “I think it’s cool that you’re able to print your fingers and take a photo that you can see instantly,” said 10-year-old Keith Garces of Union City, who came with his mother Marna and brothers Brandon and John. “My mom said this was for my safety, so it’s kind of cool. I got a free happy meal from it, so I guess it was a good thing.”
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