September 6, 2010 - “Ride for Their Lives” is a month-long, cross-country bike ride that was organized by the Surviving Parents Coalition (SPC) to raise awareness about missing persons and to encourage support of four laws that would help effect change by combating this growing national problem.
Scroll down for a map to see if the SPC will pass through your city or town.
Chuck Cox, whose daughter Susan Cox Powell went missing last December, will meet with Ed Smart and Ahmad Rivazfar in Salt Lake City on September 10. Smart and Rivazfar began their ride on Aug. 21 from Rochester, New York, to Los Angeles, California, ending September 22. More details >>
On August 21, 2010, Ed Smart and Ahmad Rivazfar, both parents of child abduction and abuse victims, began their travels across the country by bicycle seeking to raise awareness and funding for the SPC child advocacy initiatives.
The pair are joining other volunteer cyclists on a 3,500-mile journey through 26 cities, from Rochester, N.Y. to Los Angeles, Calif.
The month-long journey is expected to culminate on September 22, 2010, with a push to address the four main legislative issues surrounding child abuse and abduction cases (details below.)
The awareness campaign, “Ride for Their Lives,” seeks to raise public knowledge and $1,000,000 to help advocate for laws that protect children and fight to eradicate predatory crimes Nation wide.
Missing persons
A day doesn’t go by that we don’t hear about someone who has gone missing. No one seems immune as this national, and international, problem touches the lives of men, women, children, entire families, and communities.
While many missing persons cases involve someone the victim knows and trusts, many others involve a stranger abduction.
The SPC believes prevention is vital in helping to put a stop to this growing epidemic.
Their aim is not only to raise awareness of what families endure when a loved one goes missing, but to provide support to these families.
The four legislative issues to combat this problem include: DNA Collection on Felony Arrest; Protect our Children Act of 2008; The Adam Walsh Act; and Not ONE More Child.
Surviving Parents Coalition (SPC)
The SPC is a parent-driven, 501c4 organization made up of parents of children who were abducted, sexually assaulted, murdered, recovered, or are still missing.
They are committed to saving lives.
The coalition’s founding demonstrates the power of survival and how suffering can motivate people to accomplish extraordinary things.
SPC lobbies for funding and legislation because they are essential to effect change. One of its goals is to ensure young people mature naturally without abuse and emotional turmoil.
The SPC is determined to grow and spread out nationally one family at a time.
Four legislative issues
Below are the four main legislative issues surrounding child abuse and abduction cases that SPC wants us all to know about:
DNA Collection on Felony Arrest – to lobby for DNA collection on felony arrest, not just on felony conviction. Currently, 24 states have passed some form of DNA on felony arrest legislation, but there are 26 states that should follow suit. www.dnasaves.org.
Protect our Children Act of 2008 – a law that gives more resources to the investigation and interdiction of child pornography and exploitation cases.
The Adam Walsh Act – The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, and the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act set minimum standards for a national sex offender’s registration and notification system.
“Not ONE More Child” – A Child Safety Education Initiative that educates and empowers children to recognize, avoid, resist, and escape dangerous situations and violence including bullying, assault, abuse and abduction.
Visit the websites listed below where you can learn more about Ride for Their Lives, the people behind it, and how you can help.
Sources:
Ride for Their Lives website
Ride for Their Lives Facebook page
Surviving Parents Coalition website
Comments
These people advocate using Mark Lunsford as a spokesman for their group.
This is the same Mark Lunsford who wants YOUR children thrown in prison for sexting or experimenting with sex... but his own son, Joshua Lunsford was caught molesting a child on more than one occasion.
Mark lunsford was found in posession of his own personal computer linked to child porn.
These are facts... Just google Joshua Lunsford, Mark Lunsford Child Porn....
We need good laws which protect all of society anyone who wishes to abuse them. All these knee-jerk laws are harming a LOT of people. A lot of Men, Women and Children are caught up in these laws.
These laws are creating many broken families and destining whole groups to homelessness and banishment.
If you think these people care about your children, I would advise you FOLLOW THE MONEY.
There is huge money to be made from Sex Offenders.
HUGE MONEY.
If you care to research what I say, there are a LOT of websites with tons of info.
http://www.cfcamerica.org
http://www.rickyslife.com
http://www.sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com just to name a few.
Not everyone who is on the sex offender registry raped or molested a baby.
Many children, OVER 4800 in Texas alone are on the registry.
Florida even has huge numbers of people THEY KNOW ARE DEAD on their registry...
Follow the money!
Ride for their Lives Brochure - http://t.co/rMbmX7G
Those of you who typically support these kinds of fundraisers ask yourself this question: Why would a group raise money to LOBBY CONGRESS instead of using the money directly to victims of sexual abuse? Furthermore, why are they lobbying for laws that are already in existence, supported, and funded by the government? Something is fishy. Also, Mark Lunsford has a long history of controversy, particularly mismanagement of funds donated to his defunct Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation.
Below is a link to a good commentary on the ride:
http://once-fallen.blogspot.com/2010/08/ride-for-their-wallets.html
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