Lions “Identikid” helps find lost kids

Having an Identikid card showing a child’s data can be a lifesaver in some situations.

The Lions ID card for kids displays a child’s pictures and key details such as their age and eye and hair colour.  If a child wanders off, parents can hand over the card to police or shopping centre staff to help find their missing child.

Over the years the Lions have heard many stories of parents grateful for the Identikid card. For example from the father who lost his daughter at a large Melbourne shopping centre.  The anxious dad was too upset to give an accurate description of the child to local police. However he remembered the Identikid card he was carrying and handed it to police who quickly found his daughter in a nearby toy store.

Or the Canberra mum who needed the card when she discovered her two year son missing from his stroller. Using the card, police found the toddler. A well -intentioned but absentminded neighbour had taken the child for a stroll to the shops without telling his mother.  Since then Mum has arranged for all of her seven children to receive Lions cards regularly over the years.

So what is the future for the Identikid project in this era of instant connectivity, mobile phones and digital cameras?

Lion Jim Neave from the Kambah Lions Club has managed the Club’s Identikid program that has issued over 2000 cards to Canberra parents. Lion Jim believes the need remains and says  “we will continue with this service as long as the mums and dads in the Valley value it.”

Jim is often supported by wife Lorraine and  Lions Gayle Abbott and Lorraine Freeman.  Their beat includes the busy Tuggeranong  Hyperdome and many events hosted by communities, schools and colleges around Canberra. In fact the Kambah Lions Identikid project goes wherever families with young children go.