Missing children pics to go on trucks in Wash. state

Washington state will use semi-trucks to advertise large posters of missing children as they travel the state's highways and beyond in hopes that a commuter stuck in traffic will recognize one. A similar initiative was announced in Connecticut last September, and other private industries have also used posters of missing children on trucks.

Last year, Pennsylvania announced it would start posting pictures of missing children at the Pennsylvania Turnpike's 21 service plazas.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002942954_webchildren20.html

Thats wonderful! I wish more would do it.

I have a question. I own and operate a small food service truck and go to many small venues and some larger ones, I cover three states but am mostly in Alabama. How can I go about having missing persons flyers added on a rotating basis other than printing them out myself? I would think it would get costly to have many that I could insert in the bags as food goes out.

I don't want to sound petty but I am a small business. I am thinking about how many people I see in a weekend and don't want to let the chance to get them seen pass me by.

I already include a missing person on the side near my menu.

That is great BhamMama! Why don't you get in touch with the NCMEC with the offer? Maybe they can help you arrange that. And I really like the idea of putting the missing pictures on the menus.
http://www.missingkids.com/

Also, I am sending a pm to someone on this site who has some great contacts, who might be able to assist here.

Thank you! I'll send them an email.

I found their Corporate Photo Partners info. Will call them first thing this Monday. Thanks again!

BhamMama said:

Thats wonderful! I wish more would do it.

I have a question. I own and operate a small food service truck and go to many small venues and some larger ones, I cover three states but am mostly in Alabama. How can I go about having missing persons flyers added on a rotating basis other than printing them out myself? I would think it would get costly to have many that I could insert in the bags as food goes out.

I don't want to sound petty but I am a small business. I am thinking about how many people I see in a weekend and don't want to let the chance to get them seen pass me by.

I already include a missing person on the side near my menu.

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HI Mama,

That is very thoughtful of you to want to help with our missing person's cause.

If I may ask, when you say "flyers added......", what do you mean? Added to what? On the vehicle itself, perhaps?

Yes, it would get very costly to put flyers in all of your bags. Color copies are very expensive!

As a small business, yes, you have a tight budget to adhere to, I well understand that. Is there some larger company you do business with, who, for example, you make purchases from, who might help sponsor this venture if their business name might be on the poster itself?

Hi Kelly,

I send out flyers to people who sign up on a list to follow our appearance schedule via snail mail. The bags I referenced are handed out to participants at certain venues, the bag usually contains coupons, special announcements and info about our schedule for the upcoming season and are given with samples of our food.

We generally hand out close to 200 of these 2-3 times a year. What is in the bag is always free, we don't sell any of our info and we offer nothing for sale inside the bag. It is given freely as the people there have signed up to be there voluntarily.

We are on the bbq circuit doing contests and selling at many out of the way locations. Sometimes we have speakers and the like who come to speak to fellow sellers and attendees. These would not be handed out to the general public but to other vender owners who could also post the pictures on their rigs if they so wish.

I print out 2-3 pictures a weekend to tape to the side of my rig right next to my window and on the bottom of my menu. I wish I had a bigger rig to showcase more of them but I do have guidelines about just how much of my rig I can cover. Most venues have been very open and welcoming of my posting missing children and I've never had to remove a poster at all.

I do about 45 public shows a season and rotate the pictures every weekend. Close to 100,000 people come to some of these shows. Not all of them see me of course, but it's a good bet that many, many have.

Sadly, no, I don't have a larger company to go to for this, but I have an idea about talking to a couple now that you've mentioned it. I do have small suppliers that might be interested.

Thanks for the tip!

You might also want to try some local copy shops. If you're only talking 600 per year for the bags, they might even do them in color.

I actually saw a panel truck here in california that had missing child info all over both sides of it. At first I thought I was seeing things and then I made hubby slow down so I could get a better look. I thought it was a great idea