NE NE - Jason Jolkowski, 19, Omaha, 13 June 2001 - #1

[Kelly]

Project Jason is pleased to announce that we won our first grant! While it's not a huge one, ($500) it's big and important to us. We were also the only organization in the state of Nebraska to win this.

Here is the official press release from Radio Shack:

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Nonprofit Receives Grant from RadioShack Corporation

Project Jason among 80 agencies nationwide chosen to receive grant money from the Company's StreetSentz Community Grants program.


Fort Worth, Texas ‑ May 19, 2006 ‑ As part of its continuing effort to improve the quality of life for America's families, RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) has awarded Project Jason a StreetSentz Community Grants. Project Jason is one of 80 agencies and the only one in Nebraska to receive grant money in the latest quarterly cycle of RadioShack's StreetSentz Community Grants program. The program funds worthy causes that help families protect children from abduction, violence and abuse.

"Through the StreetSentz Community Grants program, RadioShack has the ability to support programs in local communities that aim to help keep children safe," said Laura Moore, senior vice president and chief communications officer for RadioShack Corporation. "We believe our contributions to agencies like Project Jason will positively impact families across the nation, reinforcing RadioShack's commitment to the safety and security of the American family."

StreetSentz Community Grants are accepted year‑round and are evaluated quarterly by local review councils coordinated through RadioShack district offices. Grants are awarded quarterly in February, May, August and November.

To be considered for a StreetSentz Community Grants, an organization must be a tax exempt nonprofit designated as a 501 (c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service, offer solutions to help prevent family violence/abuse and/or child abduction, and directly impact or benefit, through programs or services, a RadioShack community. Grant requests should be limited to $500 or less.

Local Nonprofit Receives Grant from RadioShack Corporation

StreetSentz Community Grants guidelines and the application form are available online at the RadioShack corporate Web site (www.RadioShackCorporation.com), click on Corporate Citizenship, then StreetSentz Community Grant or at www.StreetSentz.com.

A list of this quarter’s winners can be found at http://www.radioshackcorporation.com/cc/SCGgrants2006Q1.html

About RadioShack Corporation

Fort Worth, Texas-based RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) is one of the most trusted consumer electronics specialty retailers in the U.S. and a growing provider of a variety of retail support services. The company operates a vast network of sales channels, including: nearly 7,000 company-owned and dealer stores; over 100 RadioShack locations in Mexico; and more than 600 wireless kiosks. RadioShack's knowledgeable and helpful sales associates deliver convenlent product and service solutions within an estimated five minutes of where 94 percent of all Americans either live or work.

For more information on RadioShack Corporation, visit www.RadioShackCorporation.com. To learn more about RadioShack products and services or to purchase items online, visit www.RadioShack.com."

 

[Gabby]

bumping for Jason, and the friends and family who continue to pray and to search but most importantly to HOPE. :blowkiss:

 

[Kelly]

The Project Jason Voice for the Missing blog is a year old. We share highlights from the past year and specific stories of things that happened because of the blog in today's edition. We thank our readers for making the blog a success!

The link: http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2006/07/72406-happy-birthday-voice-for-missing.html

Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski
President and Founder,
Project Jason
www.projectjason.org
Read our blog about missing persons:
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/

 

[christine2448]

Hiya everyone!


I just wanted you all to know I have spoke with Kelly and she has given me permission to put a page up about Jason on the new Wiki site for the missing http://72.41.66.103/index.php/Main_Page. I am currently working on this. I will post a link when it is completed.

 

[Kelly]

Christine, you are so awesome...thank you!


http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1638&u_sid=2213061


Published Wednesday
July 26, 2006

Relatives of missing urged to submit photos

BY LESLIE REED

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN - Although a photograph probably is the key aid to tracking down many missing people, fewer than one in three listings on Nebraska's missing persons database includes a picture.

"Can you find a missing person from that?" asked Kelly Jolkowski of Omaha, pointing to a missing persons poster that featured only a blue square labeled "photo unavailable."

Jolkowski, who became a missing persons advocate after her son Jason, disappeared five years ago at age 19, today enlisted the aid of Gov. Dave Heineman in urging families of missing Nebraskans to be sure authorities have a photograph of their loved ones - as recent and as good quality as possible.

"Those of us who have experienced this have the face of our loved ones etched on our minds and our hearts," Jolkowski said.

The photos are needed so others can help in the search.

"Any picture is better than no picture, it helps put a face to the name," she said.

Heineman added, "We need more leads, more photographs and more eyes in the field."

Jolkowski was accompanied to a press conference with Heineman by Melissa Harris, mother of Amber Harris, the 12-year-old Omaha girl who was missing for more than five months before her body was found in May. Harris said her daughter's disappearance has compelled her to help other families in similar situations.

As of today, Nebraska listed 379 people on its Missing Persons' Clearinghouse Web site, 139 of them juveniles.

Chris Price, clearinghouse manager, said about 350 names are added to the list each week - and about 350 are removed as people are located.

The clearinghouse, an online searchable database run by the Nebraska State Patrol, was created last year through legislation sponsored by State Sen. Pat Bourne of Omaha at Jolkowski's request.

 

[Kelly]

http://www.ketv.com/family/9581169/detail.html

State Asks For Everyone's Help Finding Missing Persons
Many Missing People Lack Photo On State Site

POSTED: 4:47 pm CDT July 26, 2006
UPDATED: 5:06 pm CDT July 26, 2006


LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska state officials are asking for help in tracking down missing persons.

Of the 379 listed on the State Patrol Web site, less than half have pictures to identify them. Some have been gone for decades, and others just a few hours.

Chris Rice helps run the online tool. She said the photos are needed to help get the missing persons' families closure, or bring them home.


"We're really relying on a person's name. It doesn't have the same impact, which the picture would have," Rice said.

That's why state leaders and family members of the missing are asking for help.

"Go to the Web site, look at the pictures, the information. It might strike a chord," said Gov. Dave Heineman.

Kelly Jolkowski's son, Jason, has been missing since 1991. She wants anyone who has pictures of those missing to submit them to the clearinghouse.

"One in every six children whose face is featured in various places, like a Web site, are recovered as a direct result of the public's direct exposure to that photograph," Jolkowski said.

Jolkowski told the story of a 30-year-old woman recently reunited with loved ones after being abducted by her grandmother 25 years ago.

"Even with a great passage of time, anything is possible. We can always have that hope until we know the truth," Jolkowski said.

The state patrol said 19 people listed on the site have been found since the beginning of the year.

 

[Kelly]

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/07/27/local/doc44c7f9f8bd0bc644720467.txt

Missing person site is missing pictures

BY NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

Print from a digital camera: 29 cents. Photos from a wedding: $700. Picture on missing person Web site: Priceless.

More than half of the people listed on Nebraska’s missing person Web site have a blue spot where a picture should be — no image available.

Yet photos are a vital part of finding missing people, said Kelly Jolkowski, who was instrumental in pushing through a state law that set up the Web site.

Nationally, one of every six missing children whose pictures are featured in some way are recovered as a direct result of the exposure of the photograph, said Jolkowski, whose 19-year-old son disappeared in 2001.

Putting a face to the name helps find missing people, she said during a Wednesday news conference at which Gov. Dave Heineman focused on the missing person Web site.

Awareness of the Web site is key, Heineman said.

He asked Nebraskans to take a look at it to help in the search for missing persons and to provide pictures of missing persons. A relative, a neighbor, a former school friend may have a photograph, he said.

Police work and public involvement are important in finding missing people, he said.

Police closed a case this year in which a 34-year-old woman kidnapped when she was 4 in South Sioux City by her grandmother was reunited with her parents, Heineman said. The grandmother was sentenced to three years of probation on a conviction of false imprisonment.

The Web site, launched in December, is the latest tool in finding missing people. It lists about 350 people at any given time. Most are juvenile runaways, but some have been missing for years.

About 2,900 people have been listed as newly missing since the start of this year. Nineteen have been found, and more than 2,500 reports have been canceled, many because runaways were found.

Nebraska is one of few states to have a public searchable data base for missing children and adults, said Jolkowski.

“We are leading the way.”

Many Web sites only post missing persons when they have all the data, which can take 30 to 60 days. Others won’t post a case at all unless a photo is available.

Nebraska posts information as soon as it is available, said Chris Price, State Patrol staff member.

“These efforts can only succeed with public involvement, public interaction and public scrutiny ,” said Heineman. “We need more leads, more names, more photographs and more eyes in the field.”

On the Web

To look at the state’s missing person list go to the Nebraska State Patrol home page at www.nsp.state.ne.us

Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski
President and Founder,
Project Jason
www.projectjason.org
Read our blog about missing persons:
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/

 

[Kelly]

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16975540&BRD=2703&PAG=461&dept_id=555107&rfi=6

Missing IWCC student's case highlighted
PHIL ROONEY, Staff Writer
07/27/2006


The case of missing Iowa Western Community College student Jason Jolkowski was highlighted during a Wednesday news conference in Lincoln, Neb.

Jolkowski disappeared on June 13, 2001. He was last seen walking to Benson High School in Omaha to meet a coworker for a ride to work. Then 19, Jolkowski was a student at IWCC and a disc jockey at 89.7 The River, the college's radio station.

His mother, Kelly Jolkowski, appeared with Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman and members of the Nebraska State Patrol to promote that state's Missing Person's Clearinghouse, which was created on May 25, 2005, when the Nebraska Legislature passed Jason's Law.

Heineman praised Kelly Jolkowski and Omaha State Sen. Patrick Bourne for their efforts in passing the bill and said more pictures are needed on the Web site that generally lists around 350 missing people, many of them runaways.

"We need your help to raise the awareness of the Web site and the good it can do," Heineman said.

Jolkowski said her son's case remains active, and the family recently distributed posters at a park near their Omaha home to mark the fifth anniversary of the disappearance. She also stressed the role the public can play and the pain felt by the families who are missing a loved one.

"There's an empty place at the dinner table, one that longs to be filled again," she said. "We need your help."

To access the Nebraska Missing Person's Clearinghouse, go to the Nebraska State Patrol's Web site at nsp.state.ne.us and click the missing person's link or contact the hotline by calling 1 (877) 441-LOST.

The Omaha Police Department has announced that a $5,000 reward will be paid for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of any suspects involved in the disappearance of Jason Jolkowski. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (402) 444-STOP (7867) or the Omaha Police Department at (402) 444-5600.

Jason Jolkowski is described as a white male, 6-feet tall and weighing 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Heineman encouraged the public to the Web site and become aware of the numbers of missing people.

"We need more names, more leads, more photographs, more eyes in the field," Heineman said. "There are eyes and ears in the field. The patrol can't do this alone."

 

[Gabby]

Bumping back to first page.... Jason we all pray for your return...

 

[Gabby]

Woke up this morning with Kelly & Jason on my mind.... Bumping this thread up for those who continue to search and pray for Jason's return home.

 

[Kelly]

Hello all,

Melissa Harris (mother of Amber Harris) and I are going to the state capital in Lincoln tommorrow afternoon.

I have arranged a meeting with my state senator, who helped push through Jason's Law, and another senator. My senator is in his last year there, so we will be meeting to discuss possible sponsorship by the other senator for the new bill we will be pushing in 2007.

While Jason's Law focused on awareness and communication, the new law encompasses procedures for LE for both missing persons and the unidentified deceased. (UID's) There are also sections that deal with the capture of DNA from the missing person or his/her family members for the federal database.

This law will be called Amber's Law in memory of Amber Harris, who was missing and was then found brutally murdered here in Omaha. It is important to Amber's family that her death serve some purpose, so we asked the Harrises to help us pass this bill.

This is a part of Project Jason's national Campaign for the Missing in which we are working on passing this legislation in each and every state. We have already achieved bill sponsorship in several states with many more in progress.

You can learn more about the Campaign for the Missing and the proposed law here.

Thank you.

 

[Montanagirl]

Kelly and Melissa,
Good luck and God bless you both.:clap:

 

[inquiringmindz]

Thinking of Jason today and wishing for answers for his family.

 

[christine2448]

Thinking of Jason today and wishing for answers for his family.

Me too. I put Jason's mailing labels on all the truck drivers pay checks (on the outside envelope so wherever the envelopes go, the mail carriers, mail workers and truck drivers traveling around the US will see his picture) I sent out for the last 3 weeks. I just finished them today and was thinking of him.

 

[Straitfan]

Dear Kelly,

I have followed your site on and off over the years. You are one truly amazing person and I commend your strength in all you do! Jason is fortunate to have such a wonderful Mom! Also your "adopt a missing person" project is a wonderful idea.

I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere as I recently started visiting WS again and there is a ton of info to read through so if it has I don't mean to repeat it but people can sign up through their cell phones to receive Amber Alerts via text.

 

[Kelly]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your kindness and prayers. Thank you to Christina for your proactiveness. The labels are a great idea!

We did get tentative sponsorship for Amber's Law. Now we begin the negotiation process with the senator to what stays in the bill. (Hopefully everything.)

I'll keep you posted.

Kelly

 

[Kelly]

http://www.ketv.com/news/9703002/detail.html


Mother Of Missing Man Proposes New Alert System

Project Jason Alert Would Be Less Restrictive Than Amber Alert

POSTED: 4:46 pm CDT August 18, 2006
UPDATED: 4:54 pm CDT August 18, 2006


OMAHA, Neb. -- The mother of a missing man met with local law enforcement officials on Friday to press for the creation of an alert system less restrictive than the Amber Alert.

Kelly Jolkowski's son, Jason, disappeared five years ago. She formed a nonprofit foundation in his name called "Project Jason."

Jolkowski said an Amber Alert isn't activated for most missing children because law enforcement can only activate one when investigators know a child is kidnapped or in immediate danger.


"I wanted to come up with something less strict than an Amber Alert to create awareness for that missing person," Jolkowski said.

Deputies, police chiefs and officers from 10 law enforcement agencies around Omaha agreed to meet with Jolkowski to brainstorm about a Project Jason Alert.

Papillion Police Chief Leonard Houloose said agencies would need to get on the same page about how to define a missing person.

"The devil is in the details," Houloose said.

The chief said his colleagues agreed during Friday's meeting that asking TV stations to turn on a bottom-of-screen ticker would help their searches.

"It could put (out) information on a regular basis," he said.

The officials may not yet be convinced by the idea for a Project Jason Alert, but Jolkowski said their presence spoke volumes.

"I see they care and are concerned," she said.

The chief deputy in Sarpy County told Jolkowski he would meet with law enforcement agencies across the county next Thursday to see what they can do better to find missing children.

 

[Kelly]

http://www.action3news.com/NewsArticle/tabid/898/xmid/3958/Default.aspx

MOM WANTS BETTER AMBER ALERT
Omaha, NE- One Omaha mother may have a solution to help find missing persons who do not qualify for the Amber alert. Kelly Jolkowski has come up with Project Jason Alert named after her son who has been missing for more than 5 years. The rules for the alert will be flexible and allow more missing persons to be broadcast on television with an alert ticker at the bottom of the screen. Jolkowski has met with law enforcement agencies throughout the metro to come up with a list of criteria for the Project Jason Alert. More meetings are planned to determine if and when the alert will be put into action.

Posted August 21, 2006

 

[inquiringmindz]

Thinking of the family and wishing for news about Jason.

 

[inquiringmindz]

Bumping for Jason and all who love him.