Each year approximately 725,000 children are reported missing in the United States. The Kids ID program gives parents the peace of mind that they are prepared for the unthinkable.

As a resource to California parents, the Masons of California provides free fingerprinting and photo identification for children of all ages. The identification sheet provided to parents also includes space to record height, weight, eye and hair color, and distinguishing marks. The identification sheet is extremely valuable to authorities if a child is ever missing or abducted. The entire process takes only a minute and no information is ever recorded on the computer equipment.

Since the program began in 1998, more than 300,000 California children have received this important documentation. California lodges provide this free service in Kids ID booths at fairs and other community events across the state.

To find the Kids ID booth nearest you, see the Kids ID Calendar for Northern California or Southern California.

Every year Liberty Lodge participates in a bicycle program with the local schools. As part of this program Liberty Lodge donates a new bicycle to a child at one of these schools who works hard and is in need. The student must have perfect attendance for the semester, no grade lower than a 'C' and no performance or disciplinary problems.

The program is designed to get children to school and keep them civilized so that there is an atmosphere where they are ready, willing and able to learn. Attendance is important because they can't learn if they are not there, plus the state provides funds based on the average number of students in school on any given day. Any student should be able to achieve a passing grade with applied effort and some support from their family. And certainly each student is responsible for their own behavior while in school and it is important that they be good citizens and not disrupt others or intentionally cause conflict. The schools we currently are working with are Bowers, Bracher and Briarwood Elementary in Santa Clara.

California Master Masons founded the Masonic Homes of California over 100 years ago to provide organized relief to those in need. Inspired by brotherly love, they built magnificent and sound buildings to last centuries and to shelter our fraternal family.

Today, in residential and community-based programs, the Masonic Homes cares for seniors and children in the name of every Mason in California—past, present and future. We continually strive for excellence in all that we do to ensure that our services are delivered in a manner befitting our founding ideals.

The brethren who had the foresight a century ago to dream of a Masonic Home truly "built wiser than they knew." With the perspective of 100 years of service behind us, it is clear that their vision and the charitable spirit embodied in Freemasonry have combined to build a lasting and inspiring model of care that all California Masons can be proud to call their own.

To learn more about California Masonic Homes please visit http://www.masonichome.org/ .

The members of Liberty Lodge, as members of the Masons of California are proud to announce that we are sponsors of the California Teachers of the Year program offered by the California Department of Education.

The program pays tribute to California's teaching force, the growing complexity of challenges that confront our schools, and the need to promote collaboration and teamwork among teachers to meet those challenges.

California continues to face a critical teacher shortage; therefore, as symbols of an honored profession, California Teachers of the Year stand to play a pivotal role in drawing new people into the field.

For more information about the California Teachers of the Year program, please visit http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/ct/ .