One Child Gives To Help Others

August 24, 2009 Contributor

OSWEGO, NY -   Mary Buske turned eleven years old in July. Instead of asking for gifts, she asked her friends to bring “Pennies for Posters.”

Mary and her mom, Lisa Buske, have traveled the past couple years to Utica and Albany to support “The Ride for Missing Children.”

The Ride for Missing Children is a fundraiser to raise awareness for the missing while also educating children to keep them safe.

The ride’s mantra, if you will, is “Keeping our Children Safer, One Child at a Time!”

Mary Buske poses with her friends the day of her party. Not all of those that donated pennies are in the photograph, but these smiling faces help remind us the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is "Keeping our children safer, One child at a time" with the help of children and community members like Mary Buske, said her mother Lisa, Heidi Allen's sister.
Mary Buske poses with her friends the day of her party. Not all of those that donated pennies are in the photograph, but these smiling faces help remind us the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is "Keeping our children safer, One child at a time" with the help of children and community members like Mary Buske, said her mother Lisa, Heidi Allen's sister.

And these riders are amazing – they donate their time to raise “posters” (it isn’t about the money – it is about increasing awareness and helping to find the missing) by riding their bicycles 100 miles in one day to show their support for the families of those with missing and to keep other children and adults safe from future abductions.

This was a small way in which Mary could thank the riders for all they do for us.

She decided to do her part this year to help keep her friends and those in the community around her safer.

Mary invited friends and family to donate their pennies to help her raise 500 posters or $125.

It cost 25 cents to make one Missing Persons flyer.

Mary’s aunt, Heidi Allen, was abducted April 3, 1994, and is still missing.

Supporting the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is a passion for the entire family.

Mary surpassed her goal, raising 3,385 posters or $846.30!

Mary will be traveling to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Mohawk Valley (NCMEC/NY-MV) office to deliver the checks to help support the ride.

Frank Williams, one of the many coordinators from the ride and the NCMEC /NY-MV, was supportive and excited to hear from Mary.

Mary Buske poses with the two deputies that ran the Operation Safe Kid program. The sheriff's department also took up a penny collection to help Mary's efforts to both help the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and The Ride for Missing Children and to let Mary know they haven't forgotten her aunt, Heidi Allen.
Mary Buske poses with the two deputies that ran the Operation Safe Kid program. The sheriff's department also took up a penny collection to help Mary's efforts to both help the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and The Ride for Missing Children and to let Mary know they haven't forgotten her aunt, Heidi Allen.

In conjunction with raising posters Mary invited “Operation Safe Child” through the Oswego County Sheriff’s Department to join her at Scriba Town Park to fingerprint and provide identification cards to the children at the park that day.

“Operation Safe Child” is provided through a grant at the Oswego County Sheriff’s office – they offer hours for this service each week, please call if you haven’t had your child fingerprinted and entered in the system. This is an opportunity to save you precious moments when your loved one goes missing.

For more information about “Operation Safe Child,” please contact Sgt. Jeffrey Dunsmoor at the Oswego County Sheriff’s Department, 39 Churchill Road, Oswego (315-349-3333).

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