(A Project Jason Press Release)
Bogota, NJ -- Christmas for Jim Viola, and his two children, Christine and Michael, is just not the same without wife and mother, Patricia Viola, missing from Bogota, NJ, since February 13th, 2001. The empty chair at the dinner table, and Patricia's favorite Christmas decorations, serve as constant reminders that she is not home, and another
year has come and nearly gone.
"Like many typical families, Christmas shifts into high gear right after Thanksgiving, not this year though. The beautiful artificial Christmas tree that we picked out as a family a few weeks before we celebrated our last Christmas together in 2000, will go up, eventually, mainly to keep some sense of normalcy and spirit for our two children, Christine and Michael, " Jim Viola, Patricia's husband, explains with a weariness expected of a man who has been devastated by this loss.
It is difficult for the family to get into the Christmas Spirit, especially when facing four years without knowing the answers in regards to Patricia's disappearance. The family does still have hope, and part of that comes from the efforts of strangers to help find Patricia.
Some of the country's best natural networkers, truck drivers, are going to help the Viola family to keep that hope by their participation in the 18 Wheel Angels program.
18 Wheel Angels is a national missing person's locator program spearheaded by nonprofit organization Project Jason. The program enlists the aid of truck drivers, and business travelers to place posters of missing persons along their routes as they travel across the country. A different missing person is featured every 2 weeks. Participants are asked to go to the 18 Wheel Angels link on the Project Jason Website at
www.projectjason.org, and to then download and print as many posters as they can place. Anyone can participate.
Patricia Viola's campaign begins on December 16th and will run through December.
In addition to the 18 Wheel Angels campaign, Project Jason had added Patricia to their Adopt a Missing Person program. Patricia's family sent buttons to the organization to have available for people across the country to mail in and request. The compassionate person who adopts Patricia will also be mailed an info card, which contains a bio and personal information about her. Whoever adopts Patricia will wear her button and share her story with others. As awareness is key in missing person's cases, it is important for Patricia's face to be seen so that she can be found and reunited with her family.
Project Jason was founded by Kelly Jolkowski, mother of missing Omaha, NE youth Jason Jolkowski. The all volunteer group's mission is to create and increase public awareness of missing people through a variety of outreach and educational activities. Project Jason seeks to bring hope and assistance to families of the missing by providing resources and support.
For additional information about the 18 Wheel Angels or the Adopt a Missing Person program, and Project Jason, please see the website at
www.projectjason.org, or contact President and Founder, Kelly Jolkowski, at 402-932-0095. You may also email
kelly.jolkowski@projectjason.org.
For more information, please see Patricia's web site,
http://patriciaviolamissing.homestead.com