Vending Sticker Program
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FRAUD ALERT |
Incorporated in 1981, VCA is a national non-profit
organization dedicated to protecting
all children from disappearing. To ensure children’s safety, VCA educates
the public
and professionals about the serious issue of abducted and runaway children.
VCA works
to prevent, locate, and recover child victims, and reunify them with their
families, in
collaboration with law enforcement, communities and other credible agencies.
We assist
families and the community by providing the following services:
*Active Case Management in Missing and Abducted Children
*Counseling and Technical Assistance
*Poster and Photo Dissemination
*Vending Sticker Program
*Dedicated Missing and Abducted Child Location Assistance
*Family Reunification and Reintegration Services
*Abduction Prevention/Educational Presentations and Workshops
*Fingerprinting and Child Safety Events
VCA distributes photos of missing and abducted children in a variety of ways. VCA has found that the dissemination of missing children’s photos by stickers on vending machines assists in the location of children and keeps the issue of missing and abducted children in the forefront of people’s minds, thus having prevention and educational value.
Vending machine owners use charities to help secure locations for their machines. Once they choose a charity and become a member of that charities’ program, they can present themselves to the location owner as being a supporter of this particular charity. They explain what the charity organization does for the cause, and ask the location owner to help them support the charity organization by allowing them to place their machine in the establishment.
Members of the VCA Vending Sticker Program are provided with posters, safety tips, abduction prevention tips and other literature on the missing and abducted child’s issue. VCA also provides members with a letter introducing them as being a part of the VCA Vending Sticker program. By reading, posting and sharing this information with others it helps to increase public awareness of the critical issues surrounding missing and abducted children.
The VCA vending program requires each vendor to sign a Royalty Agreement in which they agree to pay a fixed quarterly payment for the use of the Vanished Children’s Alliance name and/or logo. By participating in our vending program, the vendor is NOT doing fundraising or soliciting on behalf of the Vanished Children’s Alliance. The royalty fees are set prepay quarterly fees and are not based on the income of the machines.
Vendors may indicate to the merchant where the vending machine is placed that they help support VCA in furtherance of its mission by paying a set royalty fee. The Royalty Fee is NOT a donation. DO NOT tell people you donate to VCA unless you give a separate donation above and beyond your royalty fee. Vendors wishing to do fundraising on behalf of VCA must have a completed fundraising application on record and approved by management. Most state laws require that fundraisers be registered in the state where they do business.
Please be aware that all vendors MUST display a separate SERVICE sticker on each vending machine explaining who to call for service or maintenance concerns. This sticker will be provided by VCA. This is necessary because many states require this disclaimer to be on vending machines. Also, there are times when merchants are confused about who owns the machine and who to call. As a result, VCA is contacted instead of the appropriate servicing company. The 1-800-VANISHED number is for reporting missing and abducted children or sightings of missing and abducted children.
The exposure of a missing child through a photo or vending sticker could lead to the child’s safe recovery. The Vending Sticker Program is a very important method of exposing a missing or abducted child’s picture to the public. In addition, posting the safety/abduction prevention tips can help families increase their child’s safety. We appreciate your interest and thank you in advance for your efforts to assist in locating missing and abducted children and helping to keep other children safe.
For further information
about this program, please contact
Kristin Appleton, VCA Resource Coordinator, at the numbers listed below or simply click on the name
to contact her via e-mail