Grieving man turns loss into lesson

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - A Dayton man turns a tragedy in his life into a learning experience for others. Eddie Nelson is a cofounder of the Kids Identity Safety Program.

KIDS is offering students an incentive to memorize important information, like their full name, home address and phone number, so they can give it to police in an emergency.

And Nelson knows all too well how important that can be.

Nelson's wife was murdered.. and his four year old son was kidnapped--then abandoned at a rest stop along I-70 near Columbus in January. A couple found the boy sitting alone at the rest stop. He was exhausted, but told police his home address.

Harrison Township sheriff's deputies went to the boys home, and discovered his mother, murdered inside.

Then, just three days after her murder.. Eddie had an epiphany.

"I said this is something every kid in America should know, I mean, there's so many circumstances where the information is very important," Nelson told 2 News Thursday afternoon at Patterson Kennedy PK-8 School.

Eddie and two friends came up with the Kids Identity Safety Program. Sponsors buy t-shirts with the KIDS logo, and only the students who properly memorize their full name, address and phone number get one.

When the whole class has their information memorized, they get a pizza party. All at no cost to the school or students.

Tamika Lovett has first and second grade students at Patterson-Kennedy. Both were proudly wearing their KIDS t-shirts in the auditorium.

"I think it's great, because these days, its good for kids to know their names, address and phone numbers," said Lovett.

Nelson says he hopes to expand the program to more schools, but right now, they're looking for sponsors.

Nelson said, "It doesn't have to be a big elementary school. If you can sponsor a small, private preschool, that'd be great. It's just important to get the kids to learn their information."

For information on how to get involved, go to www.unitedwestandforamerica.org