National Center For Missing & Exploited Children To Honor Leaders In The Fight To Protect Children At Annual Hope Awards

Honorees include Bryan Cranston and his wife, Robin Dearden; Jaycee Dugard and family; and Steve Largent and CTIA

News provided by

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Apr 30, 2013, 11:39 ET

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

What: At the 11^th annual Hope Awards gala, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children will recognize individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions in the fight to protect children from victimization. The awards are presented each May in honor of National Missing Children's Day (May 25).

Honorees Include:

Bryan Cranston and Robin Dearden
Cranston and his wife, Dearden have been long-time supporters of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Cranston is also an award-winning actor, currently starring as Walter White in the Sony/AMC hit series, "Breaking Bad."

Jaycee Dugard and family
In 2009, Dugard was reunited with her family after being abducted 18 years before and surviving years of abuse at the hands of her abductors. Dugard has created the JAYC Foundation to provide support to families who have experienced abduction or other traumatic events.

Steve Largent and CTIA-The Wireless Association
Largent has served as president and CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association® since 2003. Under his leadership, CTIA helped advance the AMBER Alert program with the creation of Wireless AMBER Alerts™ and the transition to Wireless Emergency Alerts. Largent is also a former congressman from the state of Oklahoma and was a record-setting wide receiver with the Seattle Seahawks for 14 years.

Media will have access to the award presentations and an opportunity to speak with some of the honorees and special guests prior to the event. Participants in this media availability include:

Actors Bryan Cranston and Robin Dearden.
CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent.
NCMEC CEO John Ryan.
NCMEC co-founder John Walsh.
Actor Tim Kang, of CBS' "The Mentalist."
Actor Richard Burgi.

When: Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Media Availability: 5:15 p.m. – 6 p.m. Eastern Time

Award Presentations: 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Eastern Time

Where: The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 1150 22^nd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037

Media who are attending should RSVP by May 6 to [email protected] or call 703-837-6111.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1984. Designated by Congress to serve as the nation's clearinghouse on issues related to missing and exploited children, the organization operates the toll-free 24-hour national missing children's hotline which has handled more than 3,762,000 calls. It has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 185,000 children. The organization's CyberTipline has handled more than 1,887,000 reports of child sexual exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed and analyzed more than 88,592,000 child pornography images and videos. The organization works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To learn more about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com. Follow NCMEC on Twitter and like NCMEC on Facebook.

SOURCE The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children