ST. LOUIS, MO—Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Richard Quinn is pleased to announce the selection of the Missouri Masonic Children’s Foundation for the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award. Specifically, the FBI is recognizing the foundation’s Missouri Child Identification and Protection (MoChIP) program. The program generates a comprehensive identification kit that can be invaluable when a child goes missing and is free to any Missouri family. Parents and guardians simply bring the child to a MoChIP event to have the kit completed within minutes. “Child ID kits act as force multipliers in helping to protect children,” said SAC Quinn. “Quick, easy, and free, I encourage all parents to take advantage of this invaluable resource by attending a MoChIP event where volunteers will complete the kits.”

The Missouri Masonic Children’s Foundation is the sole sponsor and administrator of the program and buys all the necessary equipment and materials. The child ID kits contain digital photographs, digital fingerprints, child information and emergency contacts, two laminated ID cards, and a dental bite impression. The Missouri Freemasons volunteer at the events to complete the kits. President Emmett Bryson of the foundation’s board said, “The Masonic Children’s Foundation is very excited to receive recognition for our MoChIP program which has been serving families in Missouri for over 15 years. On behalf of the more than 30,000 Freemasons of Missouri who volunteer and support this program, we thank the FBI for recognizing its success.”

The MoChIP program was started in 2006. To date, the Missouri Masonic Children’s Foundation together with the Freemasons of Missouri, have generated approximately a quarter of a million ID kits for Missouri kids.

The MoChIP program complements the FBI’s Child ID app, which can be downloaded for free to your mobile device. The app provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and other vital information about your children so that it’s literally right at hand if you need it. You can also quickly email the information to authorities.

Previous FBI St. Louis honorees*

• 1990 Joseph Cunningham, former St. Louis Cardinals baseball player
• 1991 Martin Mathews, Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club
• 1993 The late Jean Leible, Neighborhood Activist
• 1995 Pastor Harry Douma, Camp Penuel
• 2005 Martin Mathews (two-time honoree)
• 2006 Karen Aroesty, Anti-Defamation League
• 2007 Pastor B. T. Rice, New Horizon Seventh Day Christian Church
• 2008 Dave Sinclair, Dave Sinclair Auto Group
• 2009 Bill Wilkerson, “Reach Out St. Louis!"
• 2010 Dr. Stephen Bander, Bander Center for Medical Business Ethics
• 2011 Anthony Thompson, Kwame Building Group
• 2012 Kimberly Ritter, Nix Conference & Meeting Management
• 2013 Angel Baked, a social enterprise program empowering inner-city teens
• 2014 Wehrenberg Theatres
• 2015 Emerson’s Ferguson Forward Initiative
• 2016 Shubert Design Furniture (in conjunction with Gary Sinise Foundation honored by FBI HQ)
• 2017 Danny Ludeman, President & CEO, Concordance Academy of Leadership
• 2018 National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse—St. Louis Area
• 2019 Missouri Masonic Children’s Foundation (announcement delayed due to COVID-19)

*unlisted years did not have a recipient