SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/06/09 -- Office Depot® (NYSE: ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, and ME911, a premier provider of 24/7 emergency response services for families, today announced their partnership to promote back-to-school safety by hosting free digital child fingerprinting events at select Office Depot retail stores across the country.

The free Child Fingerprinting events will be held at Office Depot stores in the following markets: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Denver, Orlando, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. The program is designed to provide parents and guardians with resourceful tools to help ensure the safety of their children.

Free Nationwide Child Fingerprinting Events will be held:

August 15, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm:

-- Atlanta: 530 Lakeland Plaza, Suite A, Cumming, GA 30040

-- Cincinnati: 11711 Princeton Pike, Springdale, OH 45246

-- Denver: 8601 W Cross Drive, Littleton, CO 80123

August 22, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm:

-- Orlando: 924 West State Road, 436, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714

-- Dallas: 909 N Central Expressway, # 100, Plano, TX 75075

-- San Francisco: 2675 Geary Blvd., #100, San Francisco, CA 94118

-- Chicago: 16 E Golf Rd., Schaumburg, IL 60173

August 29, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm:

-- Seattle: 15301 N.E. 24th Street, Redmond, WA 98052

September 5, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm:

-- Los Angeles: 24313 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance, CA 90505

-- Washington, DC: 5845 Leesburg Pike, Baileys Crossroads, VA 22041

While preparing their shopping lists in time for the back-to-school season, parents should also consider an important fact that in the U.S. alone, a child is reported missing every 40 seconds on average, based on a study by the U.S. Department of Justice on the national estimates of missing children (NISMART-2, 2002).

In fact, the first few hours after a child has gone missing are highly emotional as parents search for recent photos, means of identification, or even try to remember distinctive characteristics accurately. Having this information on hand helps law enforcement officials track the progression of the investigation and could speed up the recovery process.

At each of the events hosted by Office Depot and ME911, families have the opportunity to receive a free 8 1/2 by 11-inch detailed profile of their children within minutes. It includes characteristic descriptions such as height, weight, eye and hair color, forensic-quality digital fingerprints, photographs, and two wallet-size child I.D.