Block Parents to make a comeback in Brandon
The committee has more than 300 people interested in being involved
A committee in Brandon, Man. is looking to revive the city's now-defunct Block Parent program.
The city had a Block Parent program in place for about three decades before it shut down in 2008 after the former committee fell apart.
Samantha Shupe is part of the new eight-member committee working to bring the program back to the city's neighbourhoods. She has received a lot of support from the community as well as the police force and schools in the area, she said Thursday.
"I think it's something that our community needs. It was a program that thrived in the past and I'm hoping to restore that," Shupe told CBC's Information Radio.
The committee has begun looking for volunteers in the community and their Facebook group has more than 300 members.
Volunteers will have to go through a series of background checks and interviews before being approved as a Block Parent but Shupe said every volunteer helps.
"If you're able to have the sign in your window, even a few hours a week, that will make a difference," she said Thursday.
Shupe said she was inspired to get the program back in motion after the city had what she called "a couple scares" but that the program is meant to protect kids from more than the extremes of child abduction.
"It's meant for kids that feel bullied, lost, scared. They get locked out of their house, there's several different reasons and I want it to be available in our community," she said.