'N Sync's Chris Kirkpatrick Becomes Child Watch National Spokesperson
(7/29) from Launch:
'N Sync member Chris Kirkpatrick was in New York
City today (July 26) to announce that he has partnered with Child Watch
Of North America to be the non-profit organization's national
spokesperson. Child Watch was founded in 1992 with the mission of
working together with school officials, teachers, community leaders,
parents, and children to keep children safe. Child Watch also works
with local and national law enforcement and government agencies to
locate children who are missing as a result of stranger or parental
abductions. "In the United States, an attempted abduction of a child
takes place every four and a half minutes," said Child Watch president
Don Wood. Wood explained to LAUNCH why Kirkpatrick is the perfect
spokesperson for the organization. "We believe that there's a need for
parents that want information on how to protect their children and we
have put together plans to have a video of our safety rules," he said.
"And Chris has agreed to host that video for us. Basically, the video
will be there to try and teach parents and children. We know parents
want the information, but how do you get the children to want to watch
the video? Well, they'll want to watch it if Chris is in it. So, we've
basically appealed to both audiences that we're trying to reach."
Kirkpatrick is pleased to lend his name to Child Watch, which has
recovered an astounding 122 missing children so far. "It's a great
cause" Kirkpatrick said. "And I'm just not saying that to give you
guys some crap. It's like really something that I believe in. Something
that Don has heavily believed in for a long time. And hopefully we can
take it from where it is and get the awareness out there, so we can
take it to the next level, take it out so that everybody knows about
child watch, not just a select few. We'll take that number from 122 and
quadruple it-- make it 10 times platinum." Kirkpatrick's photo will
appear on promotional materials for the organization, and he will make
appearances on talk shows and at other various media outlets to bring
attention to the plight of missing and exploited children. The 'N Sync
singer will also help by lending support to Child Watch with his Fu Man
Skeeto clothing line and record label, Fu Man Skeeto Productions. The
label's debut artist, Ron Irizarry, will provide music for the Child
Watch safety video. "We've been kicking around a lot of ideas about the
clothing line itself," said Kirkpatrick, "whether it should have some
reflective tape or, I guess, there's a new thing that they're talking
about being able to sew into the fabric just in case a child gets lost.
We're not talking like a 'big brother' situation here where 13-year-old
kids [have] parents putting this in to make sure they get home before
midnight. But you know, for kids of 1 or 2, when they start to walk and
[reach] 6 years old, if they wander off, it's usually not because they
just got a little lost. So it will be something that will really help
out in those instances." Texaco, which named Child Watch its national
charity in 1997, will also run various promotions and sponsorships at
locations nationwide in conjunction with Kirkpatrick. For more
information, check out Child Watch's official website at childwatch.org.
Child Watch also maintains a national toll-free line for information on
missing children and inquiries from parents searching for their
children. The number is 1-888-CHILDWATCH.
