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Each year, nearly one million children disappear from our sight.  The Freemasons of Maryland have a program that can help police departments with locating missing children.  The Child Identification Program (CHIP) collects basic identification data including a photograph, finger prints, and identifying characteristics for each child in your family and provides you with a permanent record on paper and on a CD.  The paper record is provided in two forms; one that you can file away and the other that you can carry in a purse or wallet.  The CD also contains a video interview with your child which is helpful to law enforcement officials when searching for a lost child.  We collect the data and use the computer to produce the document and CD but we do not retain any information once the computer has produced the CD.  The printed information and CD are the sole property of the child's parent(s) or guardian(s).  They alone make the decision to share it with law enforcement agencies should a child become lost.

Statistical data shows that the sooner a child's description, DNA, photo, etc. can be obtained by law enforcement agencies, the better the chance of recovering a child who has gone missing.  The agencies have many tools at their disposal including specially trained dogs that can detect human cells under as much as two feet of water.  The data collected by a CHIP team about a child is specifically selected to assist the law enforcement personnel in the search. 

No parent wants to believe that the unimaginable could happen to them, though nearly 2,000 children are reported missing or abducted in the United States each day. The peace of mind MDCHIP provides to Maryland families is invaluable. Once the child is processed through the program, which generally takes only ten minutes, the parent is armed with a single pre-printed envelope that instructs authorities in the event of an emergency, something a parent in crisis would undoubtedly have trouble with, and a proactive measure to combat the time sensitivity involved in recovery. Within a matter of minutes the MDCHIP CD can be loaded into a computer directly form a police officers automobile and entered into the Amber Alert system.

And all of it is provided without charge through the tireless efforts of dedicated Masonic brethren and volunteers, charitable contributions and corporate partnerships.

The MDCHIP program was adapted from the National Masonichip Foundation. MDCHIP hopes to quickly provide your family with these invaluable records. This program had its inception in February 2008.

Collectively the CHIP programs have processed more than 1,100,000 children throughout the United States.

 For more information on becoming a corporate partner or to make a donation to this most important program, please contact Jack Biggs at 410-527-0600 or email (gm0708@glmd.or) .

To learn more about the Maryland CHIP program, please visit  www.mdchip.net, send an email to mdchip@glmd.org , or call the Office of the Grand Lodge at (410) 527- 0600.   The web site will soon include a calendar of an upcoming Maryland CHIP event near you. You may also request a CHIP event for your community, gathering, or organization by completing and submitting the form we can provide you. 

To learn more about the Maryland Freemasons, follow this link to the Grand Lodge of Maryland Web Page.