BAY MINETTE, Ala. - Baldwin EMC recently completed the distribution of more than 2,000 child identification kits to local kindergarten classes.

The kits include an inkless fingerprint sampling set, a wallet card, and DNA swabbing sets. They’re meant to give parents and guardians a record of the identifiable characteristics that can be used to locate a missing child.

“The statistics on how many children go missing each year are unfortunately alarming,” said Karen Moore, Baldwin EMC’s vice president of member services and public relations. “Many parents don’t realize how valuable having ID kits for their children can be until it’s too late.”

The kits distributed by Baldwin EMC were produced in cooperation with the National Child Identification Program and the American Football Coaches Association.

This has become an annual project for the cooperative, which has distributed the kits for the past eight years.

The kits were delivered to kindergarten classes throughout Baldwin County this month. Kits are also available by request in any Baldwin EMC office, or via the cooperative’s website, baldwinemc.com.