'N Sync's Chris Kirkpatrick Becomes Child Watch National Spokesperson

(7/26/00, 6 p.m. ET) - 'N Sync member Chris Kirkpatrick was in
New York City today (July 26) to announce that he has partnered with
Child Watch Of North America to be the non-profit organization's
national spokesperson. Child Watch was founded in 1992 with the
mission of working together with school officials, teachers, community
leaders, parents, and children to keep children safe. Child Watch also
works with local and national law enforcement and government
agencies to locate children who are missing as a result of stranger or
parental abductions.

"In the United States, an attempted abduction of a child takes place
every four and a half minutes," said Child Watch president Don Wood.

Wood explained to LAUNCH why Kirkpatrick is the perfect
spokesperson for the organization. "We believe that there's a need for
parents that want information on how to protect their children and we
have put together plans to have a video of our safety rules," he said.
"And Chris has agreed to host that video for us. Basically, the video will
be there to try and teach parents and children. We know parents want
the information, but how do you get the children to want to watch the video? Well, they'll want to
watch it if Chris is in it. So, we've basically appealed to both audiences that we're trying to reach."

Kirkpatrick is pleased to lend his name to Child Watch, which has recovered an astounding 122
missing children so far. "It's a great cause" Kirkpatrick said. "And I'm just not saying that to give
you guys some crap. It's like really something that I believe in. Something that Don has heavily
believed in for a long time. And hopefully we can take it from where it is and get the awareness
out there, so we can take it to the next level, take it out so that everybody knows about child
watch, not just a select few. We'll take that number from 122 and quadruple it-- make it 10 times
platinum."

Kirkpatrick's photo will appear on promotional materials for the organization, and he will make
appearances on talk shows and at other various media outlets to bring attention to the plight of
missing and exploited children.

The 'N Sync singer will also help by lending support to Child Watch with his Fu Man Skeeto
clothing line and record label, Fu Man Skeeto Productions. The label's debut artist, Ron
Irizarry, will provide music for the Child Watch safety video. "We've been kicking around a lot
of ideas about the clothing line itself," said Kirkpatrick, "whether it should have some reflective
tape or, I guess, there's a new thing that they're talking about being able to sew into the fabric just
in case a child gets lost. We're not talking like a 'big brother' situation here where 13-year-old
kids [have] parents putting this in to make sure they get home before midnight. But you know, for
kids of 1 or 2, when they start to walk and [reach] 6 years old, if they wander off, it's usually not
because they just got a little lost. So it will be something that will really help out in those
instances."

Texaco, which named Child Watch its national charity in 1997, will also run various promotions
and sponsorships at locations nationwide in conjunction with Kirkpatrick. For more information,
check out Child Watch's official website at childwatch.org. Child Watch also maintains a national
toll-free line for information on missing children and inquiries from parents searching for their
children. The number is 1-888-CHILDWATCH.