MATERIAL RESOURCES

While financial donations can be critical to the ongoing search for a missing child there are other resources that may have an equally important impact. Types of resources the Resources Coordinator may consider seeking out include:

  • The temporary use of vehicles;

  • Other transportation — this includes boats, planes, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), snow mobiles, horses, dogs, sleds, and helicopters;

  • Equipment — this includes snowshoes, skis, hiking equipment, scuba diving equipment, radios, and water bottles;

  • Food and refreshments — this includes water, ice, coffee, hot chocolate, tea, and other types of refreshments for the volunteers;

  • Office equipment — this includes cell phones, computers, printers, faxes, photocopiers, telephones, and cameras;

  • Office supplies — this includes paper, pens, pencils, erasers, highlighters, and Post-it notes;

  • Safety supplies — this includes First Aid kits; and

  • Human Resources — this means people in the community who have particular skills that may help in the search for a missing child (e.g. someone who holds a scuba diving licence, someone who has foreign language skills, someone who is an expert in orienteering, someone who is skilled in horseback riding, someone who is skilled in dog sledding, someone who is an expert in mountaineering, etc.).

These resources can be very useful to the Community Response Plan Team but should also be offered as resources to the police. Donations of resources should be recorded and recognized in the same way monetary donations are tracked.

It’s important for community members who have access to specialized resources that may help in a missing child case to make themselves known and available to police.