Now in its 21st year, Shoney’s Restaurants KidCare Photo ID events will take place in the Greater Knoxville area for two days only in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

This year's dates and locations are Aug. 9 from 12-6 p.m. at Center Stage in Foothills Mall (197 Foothills Mall Dr., Maryville) and Aug. 10 from 3-6 p.m. at the Back to School Bash at the Knoxville Expo Center (5441 Clinton Hwy., Knoxville).

The events provide FREE KidCare Photo IDs for children, which enable parents to have information readily available for authorities in the event their child is ever reported missing.

The ID’s include a color photograph; fingerprints; important information such as: height, weight, and date of birth; a medical profile; the “Seven Rules for Safety;” and a 24-hour NCMEC hotline number. Each participant will also have the opportunity to visit with Shoney Bear.

Over the past 20 years, the program has successfully provided more than 38,000 children with IDs.

Community Partners are the Knoxville Police Department & Safety City, Knox County, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Walgreens, Star 102.1, Local8Now (WVLT), and The Optimist Club of Knoxville.

All parents should have a close-up, head & shoulders photo of each of their children. Unfortunately, parents think they have good photos of their children on their “smart phone” however, that is an unrealistic sense of security. Most photos on mobile phones include other people, are not close enough and often are not a high enough quality to identify eye color, teeth, hair color and specific facial features.

The Knoxville Police Department urges parents to make time to bring their children to these free events to create good quality photos and get your child fingerprinted.