Phew, 2020 was a rollercoaster. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, KidsAndCars.org remains steadfast in our mission of saving the lives of children and pets in and around vehicles.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those who have donated, supported us with your time and talents and especially to the grieving families who are always there when we call on them. Our work is simply not possible without each and every one of you.
KidsAndCars.org is a nonprofit and relies on donations from compassionate people like YOU.
REMEMBER... all donations will be DOUBLED in the month of January in honor of our president & founder, Janette Fennell's birthday.
Below are just a few highlights from our work in 2020. Here's to a new year, new possibilities and new opportunities to make a difference.
MUST SEE FILM: Legislators Debate, Auto Makers Design, Yet Children Still Die in Hot Cars
Don't miss this fabulous 8-minute short-film produced by the Weather Channel. The film takes a dive into the fight by grieving families and safety advocates for technology in all cars to end hot car deaths. You won't want to miss this one! A very special thank you goes out to Danielle Banks and Dan Wright at the Weather Channel for your passionate commitment to creating this amazing film. WATCH THE FILM*
MUST SEE Emmy nominated report: Experiment involving SUV reveals hidden danger for small children
KMBC 9 News anchor Donna Pitman teamed up with the KidsAndCars.org team to show exactly what drivers cannot see directly in front of their vehicle. This segment is emotional and reveals the shocking number of children that could be seated in front of an SUV and be completely unseen by the driver. Please watch and share this eye-opening film. Seeing is believing! WATCH THE VIDEO REPORT
Volunteer of the Year: Mary Moody

The 2020 volunteer of the year award goes to the amazing Ms. Mary Moody. Mary's passion for protecting children and standing up for families who have lost a child in a hot car is inspiring. She gives generously of her time, talents and treasures. Mary has been our lead volunteer data entry specialist for several years now. This is not an easy task, but Mary does it beautifully, with astounding accuracy and great positivity. She has been such a blessing to our team and we cannot thank her enough for her many contributions.

THANK YOU, MARY!!! The world could use more people like YOU!
KidsAndCars.org Public Education Programs
Childproof Your Ride
Supported by a grant from State Farm Insurance, this NEW program focuses on educating and training parents and caregivers about the many dangers vehicles present to children and how to mitigate those dangers.

Despite vehicle-related accidents being the number one killer of children in the U.S., “Childproof Your Ride” is the first program developed solely to focus on making the environment inside and around vehicles safer.
  
KidsAndCars.org encourages parents and educators to visit the “Childproof Your Ride” website for more information on how to protect children including safety tips, fact sheets, free downloadable/printable materials and much more.
Look Before You Lock
KidsAndCars.org’s ‘Look Before You Lock’ program is designed to educate parents and caregivers about the dangers of children being unknowingly left or getting into vehicles on their own and how to prevent hot car tragedies from happening.

Thanks to the generous support of Toyota, KidsAndCars.org has provided over one million ‘Look Before You Lock’ cards to more than 750 hospital birthing centers and other parent education programs nationwide.

We encourage you to share the cards throughout your networks to help raise awareness and visit the Hot Cars page on our website for more information, free printable materials, statistics, charts, graphics, memes, etc.
Education Materials Available at our Online Store
KidsAndCars.org offers print materials at our online store. Please check them out and place an order to get started raising awareness in your community today! We have informational brochures, window decals, magnets, safety tools, vehicle sunshades, air fresheners and more! Select items available in English and Spanish
Susan Morgan Cooper's Riveting Expose On Hot Car Deaths: FATAL DISTRACTION
Check out the spot-on review of the documentary Fatal Distraction by our dear friend and filmmaker Susan Morgan Cooper. The film focuses on the issue of hot car tragedies, the trial and unjust conviction of a father sentenced to life in prison for the accidental death of his son and the fight for technology to end preventable hot car tragedies.

A huge thank you goes out to Susan Morgan Cooper, Alexandra Cooper and Lara Thomas Ducey for your passion and compassion in creating this work of art and to all of the families who shared their painful stories to help make this film so powerful.
The Hot Cars Act Update
The Hot Cars Act would require the Department of Transportation to set a safety standard requiring technology in all new vehicles that could detect the presence of a child or pet inside the vehicle and provide alerts both inside and outside the vehicle. On July 1, 2020 the Hot Cars Act of 2019 passed the full U.S. House of Representatives as a part of the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2). Sadly, the bill did not pass the Senate, so the bill will be reintroduced this legislative session.

After 20 years of public education, awareness of this issue is at an all-time high. Yet, so is the number of children dying. In fact, 2018 & 2019 were the worst years ever with over 100 children killed nationwide. Despite the drastic decrease in children being transported during the pandemic, 24 children still died in hot cars last year. A safety standard requiring detection and alert technology along with education is urgently needed.


KidsAndCars.org would like to extend an extra special thank you to the companies sponsoring our efforts to bring awareness to vehicle detection technologies including Vayyar, Sensaire, VOXX Automotive, American Home Safety Products.
Hot car technology press event & Congressional briefing
On July 28th, KidsAndCars.org hosted an international virtual press event and Congressional briefing focused on available technology that can detect the presence of a child inside a vehicle and prevent hot car deaths. The press event featured several systems readily available today and addressed the need for a safety standard through the Hot Cars Act.

Photo credit: Vayyar Imaging Inc.
FREE Online Training Course on Hot Car Dangers and Children
In partnership with our friends at the Institute for Childhood Preparedness, KidsAndCars.org is offering this free online training course for childcare providers and others about hot car deaths and injuries and how they can be prevented. The course offers best practice suggestions for childcare providers and actionable safety tips for everyone to help stop these unthinkable deaths and injuries. REGISTER NOW FOR FREE
Awesome Arizona Advocates!
The Tempe Police & Fire Department teamed up with the family of Charly Jones to create a video to raise awareness and prevent hot car tragedies in honor of sweet little Charly who died in a hot car last summer. Please share this wonderful video with your community.


On May 26th, KidsAndCars.org parent advocate, Dawn Peabody spoke at the Phoenix Police and Fire Department’s press event on preventing hot car tragedies. Ms. Peabody shared the painful loss of her daughter, Maya.

Additional Speaking Engagements in 2020
Fordham Law-Pysch Webinar: The Secret Sauce to Saving Lives
On December 1st, Janette Fennell presented a webinar entitled "The Secret Sauce to Saving Lives" where she shared her personal kidnapping and trunk entrapment survival story and how that led to her dedicated career in vehicle safety and injury prevention.
A big thank you to professor Harold Takooshian, PhD for inviting us to share with students and faculty at Fordham.

Safer California 2020 Unintentional Injury Prevention Virtual Conference
On November 18, 2020 Janette Fennell, president and Amber Rollins, Director presented a workshop at the Safer California 2020 Unintentional Injury Prevention Virtual Conference. The workshop focused on nontraffic safety for children and others with a focus on heatstroke, backovers and frontovers. Ms. Fennell also presented in a technology focused workshop on hot car prevention technology and the need for a safety standard.

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA, Inc) course
Also in November, Tara LaMonte, KidsAndCars.org's Associate Director, presented an interactive course for students with the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America about child hot car tragedies and what can be done to prevent them. The course focused on educating future early childhood educators.
Connect AmazonSmile to Your APP on iOS/Android!!
Good news! AmazonSmile customers can now support Kids and Cars in the Amazon shopping app on iOS and Android mobile phones! Simply follow these instructions to turn on AmazonSmile and start generating donations for Kids And Cars.

  1. Go to https://smile.amazon.com/ - select "Kids And Cars" as your charity.
  2. Open the Amazon Shopping app on your device
  3. Go into the main menu of the Amazon Shopping app and tap into 'Settings'
  4. Tap 'AmazonSmile' and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process
KidsAndCars.org in the news in 2020 HERE
KidsAndCars.org's 2020 Press Releases HERE
Please consider donating to help save precious little lives in and around vehicles!
KidsAndCars.org
913-732-2792
www.KidsAndCars.org
*Please note that there is a mistake at 4 minutes 55-56 seconds that states the auto industry is going to install rear seat ‘detection’ technology. As we all know, they have only voluntarily agreed to offer an alert that lets you know if you have opened the back door of your vehicle before you depart. Unfortunately, that type of technology does not ‘detect’ anything and that is what’s needed. We have asked the Weather Channel to make that change and hopefully, they will be able to do so.