Got MILK?
CLEARLAKE ? Marvin Carpenter, an agent for Farmers Insurance Group, coordinated with Konocti school district to introduce a valuable, child safety program to parents during upcoming Back to School nights. Carpenter will be on hand at numerous school sites to provide parents with information about the Managing Information on Lost Kids (MILK) digital identification program.
The MILK program is aimed at aiding in the recovery of missing children. Parents will have an opportunity to learn more about the program and sign up for a free copy of the Home Organizer, developed by Imagery Concepts, LLC.
The Home Organizer is a virtual filing cabinet for family records and documents. The MILK program, along with other tools such as the Electronic Animal Recovery System (EARS), is included in the Home Organizer software.
“The MILK program is part of the Home Organizer, which is a great little program in itself,” Carpenter said. “The MILK program is just one of the drawers in the cabinet.”
Use of the MILK program provides the tools parents need to keep up-to-date information about their children readily accessible. In the event of an emergency, the MILK digital ID can be immediately forwarded to local and national authorities as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“Within an hour, the information goes out to 17,500 police departments nationwide,” Carpenter said. “This is the first step in the Amber Alert system.”
According to information provided by Carpenter, one in seven missing children is found because of a photograph distributed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, making a standardized, current photograph the single most important tool in finding missing children.
“The whole idea is to have a recent photograph,” Carpenter said. “This software is set up to remind parents every six months that it is time to take a new picture.”
Carpenter has been spreading the word about the program for the past several months. Many visitors to Konocti Kids Day and the Lake County Fair were introduced to the program this year. Carpenter said he enjoyed great response at Burns Valley Elementary School”s Back to School Night last week. “We”ve had a really nice response. I got to give a little introduction about the program last week at Burns Valley,” he said. “The parents were very pleased with it and we got a lot of children signed up.”
In addition to Back to School nights, parents may contact Carpenter at his office 14848 Olympic Drive in Clearlake or call 994-5650 to make an appointment. In Lakeport, parents may contact Patrick Lambert at Farmers Insurance Group, in the Bruno”s Shopping Center, 367 Lakeport Blvd. or call 263-7111 to make an appointment.
The Home Organizer is offered free of charge only through sponsoring agencies. In Lake County, sponsoring agencies include Farmers Insurance Groups. The software program may be purchased in stores for around $40.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com.
