29 Sep The MCP Clubs Have Expanded to Seven High Schools
From One to Seven!
Our high school clubs started a few years ago when Corey Udell, a student and baseball player at Ponte Vedra High School in Florida, met the aunt of a missing boy. The boy is Mark Degner, and his aunt is Angie Campbell, one of our board members. When Angie explained that her nephew was a missing child, Corey said, “There wasn’t anything I could say, but there was something I could do.” He took one of our stadium signs with Mark’s profile on it, and placed it in his school. He wanted to generate leads and tips in the search for the missing kids featured on the sign, and he thought his fellow Ponte Vedra Sharks could help, too. He recruited all of his teammates, and several of his friends, to join his club.
Fast forward to this fall – Corey’s vision of expanding his club to high schools around the country is beginning to take shape this school year. The Missing Child Project now has clubs in seven high schools in north Florida! In addition to Ponte Vedra HS (where the club is stronger than ever), we now have clubs in Fletcher HS, Creekside HS, Providence HS, Mandarin HS, Nease HS, and our newest addition is Beachside HS.
Each club purchases a 3×5 banner for their school featuring kids that are missing from their area, and surrounding counties. Club members earn volunteer hours by generating leads and tips in the search for their featured kids via social media, participating in fundraisers, and by educating their peers on alternatives to running away, and the warning signs of online child trafficking. (All with materials provided by The MCP, of course). We also update them on the status of their featured kids all year long, to alert them when a child has been safely located!
Corey is now a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, but he is very much involved with the details of our growth and expansion, and his desire to revolutionize the search for missing kids in America is just warming up. He also is proud to say that creating the first “The MCP Club” at his high school was a top-of-the-resume community service project that set his application to UNC-Chapel Hill apart from the rest.
If you know a high student (or teacher!) who would like to start a club at their school, please have them contact us via our website! We will help them to get started today!