Body
WHEREAS, according to the Department of Justice, an average of 2,185 children are reported missing each day and nearly 800,000 children are missing each year. While many of children are able to be found through law enforcement efforts, unfortunately, thousands of children remain missing every year; and,
WHEREAS, The BairFind Foundation is a non-profit organization whose goal is to get the public involved in the search for missing children. They do this through attaining high profile and long-term visibility of missing children's profiles, spreading awareness about the problem of missing children and engaging the public to get involved in the solutions. The BairFind Foundation was built on the simple philosophy that "more eyes looking means more children found"; and,
WHEREAS, Founder and Executive Director of the BairFind Foundation, Dennis Bair, was a minor league pitcher with the Chicago Cubs who became inspired by an autographed poster of Steelers great and four time Super Bowl champ, Rocky Bleier, which was designed to increase the visibility of missing children by putting their pictures on sports posters. It began with poster giveaways at minor league baseball games with insets of missing children profiles and continues to expand with the help of Rocky Bleier.
WHEREAS, The BairFind Foundation recently launched the BringHome100 campaign, in which the challenge is to bring 100 of their featured children home. Since the launch, 8 of the featured children have already been successfully located and brought home; and,
WHEREAS, BringHome100 has forged a partnership with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have provided a concourse sign at each of their stadiums on which missing children are featured; the Pirates are also providing a page in the game program and a Public Service Announcement will be featured on the big screen at Pirates home games. They hope to obtain more support and partnerships with pro sports teams and leagues with the goal of expanding the program to be adopted league-wide in all major sports.
Title
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby commend the work of Pittsburgher Dennis Bair and the Bairfind Foundation for their dedication to bringing missing children home through increased visibility and awareness and recognizes the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers for their commitment to this cause; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare July 2, 2012 to be "BRINGHOME100 DAY" in the City of Pittsburgh.