Family Circle Recognized For Coverage Of Missing And Exploiting Children By National Center In U.S.

Last week, Family Circle Editor-in-Chief Susan Ungaro was honored with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) HOPE Award in recognition of the magazine’s ongoing coverage of missing and exploited children and educational and prevention reporting for parents. The NCMEC was founded 20 years ago by John Walsh, now host of “America’s Most Wanted” television show, as the national organization to provide services for families and professionals in the prevention of abducted, endangered, and sexually exploited children.

Ungaro said receiving the Hope Award from NCMEC was especially gratifying because it reflected Family Circle’s  mission of making a difference for the health  and welfare of families. Since 1997, the magazine has featured stories, photographs and profiles of missing children. Family Circle can be credited for recovering six missing children and generating dozen of leads after readers spotted photos of the abducted children in the magazine and called the NCMEC. In fact, Ungaro said the highlight of the awards ceremony took place when she met a young girl who was found after a teacher recognized the student’s photo while reading Family Circle during her lunch break.

At the awards ceremony, NCMEC’s President and Chief Executive Ernie Allen called Family Circle one of his organization’s “strongest allies in the media for nearly ten years.” During a Congressional breakfast hosted by NCMEC the following day, he highlighted Family Circle again, saying its work demonstrated the positive powers of advocacy journalism. The breakfast, which was attended U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Joe Biden (D-DE) among others, raised awareness for important legislation protecting children, another topic on which Family Circle regularly reports.