GATE CITY TO HOLD GACHIP EVENT

Address:

Rock Spring Presbyterian Church
1824 Piedmont Avenue
Atlanta GA 30324

Date/Time:

Saturday, September 13, 2008 @ 10:00 am

The weekend of September 13-14, 2008, will be a
momentous one for Gate City Lodge No. 2. On the
day before the rededication of the cornerstone of
Rock Springs Presbyterian Church (see accompany-
ing article), the Lodge will hold a GACHIP event at
the Church in conjunction with their annual Kids
Day Out Preschool Program.

The CHIPS program will be from 10:00 until 4:00,
at the Church, 1824 Piedmont Road. A lot of volun-
teers from Gate City will be needed.
The Church and our Lodge are doing wonderful
things and will have a great weekend.

On September 13, 2008, Gate City Lodge No. 2 will hold a
GACHIP event at Rock Springs Presbyterian
Church. GACHIP (GeorgiA CHild Identification
Program), sponsored by the Grand Lodge of Geor-
gia, is part of MASONICHIP, an initiative of North
American Freemason's Grand Lodges, that generates
"completed packs" of various identifying items of
children for parents or guardians. MASONICHIP is
recognized by the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children (NCMEC) and received a special
Award of Commendation from the NCMEC in Feb-
ruary 2007.

GACHIP addresses the alarming fact that over
1,000,000 children are reported missing in the Unit-
ed States each year, according to the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). On
average, a child is reported missing every 43
seconds.

At GACHIP events, Masons provide the equip-
ment, volunteers, and materials necessary to gener-
ate identifying items of children in "completed
packs" (not kits to be filled out at home) to be taken
home for safe keeping. In the event the child is miss-
ing, the GACHIP pack can aid law enforcement in
recovery and identification. All the identifying items
in the pack are provided at no cost to the general
public.

Georgia Freemasons have been conducting child
identification programs for a number of years and
are proud to offer this expanded program called
GACHIP. The previous program consisted of a sin-
gle photo and fingerprinting. The new program adds
a short video interview and a dental imprint called
Toothprints. Toothprints is a technique developed by
David Tesini, a Massachusetts children's Dentist and
incorporated into CHIP by Dr. David Harte, a Mas-
sachusetts Freemason. These additions make CHIP
the most comprehensive children?s ID program
available.

Gate City Lodge is proud to work with other
Georgia Lodges to bring this wonderful program to
the families of our state for the protection of all of
our children.