'Racing to Reunite' | How a central Pa. dirt track team helps find missing children

One local race team is trying to make a huge impact off the track this season.

Thomas Cordell and his dirt track racing team Cordell Motorsports, which is located in Rouzerville, will be using this season to spread the word about missing children with an initiative called "Racing to Reunite."

Working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Cordell will put various missing children on his car throughout the season. The car will also have information about how people can reach out to organizations if they have a tip.

In addition, Cordell will hand out flyers of those kids to spectators and racing personnel.

He knows that there is a need to help out these children and their families.

"You see all these missing children all the time. Comes up on Facebook, Amber Alerts," Cordell said. "So I thought we could take our race program as a platform, and we could utilize that as a way to spread awareness for missing children to help locate them."

Cordell also has a teenage daughter, which makes him even more passionate about the safety of kids.

He believes that any effort made to help these kids is a positive.

"It blows me away, the number of kids that go missing... Any more efforts that can be done can potentially make a difference in locating a missing child."

The car and the flyers will be featured on his Facebook page throughout the season so his work can reach a wider audience.

He hopes that through his work, other teams can also participate and help out. In addition, Cordell often appears at car shows for his sponsors. He hopes that those relationships can also broaden his reach. 

All of these factors make Cordell hopeful that he can make an impact.

"The ultimate goal is that we post about a child, a tip goes through a child is found," Cordell said. "That's the ultimate thing."

Obviously that's the main goal, but according to Cordell, just spreading the message could have a big impact on other people.

"The next thing is the awareness of it. Most people are not in the know, they don't realize that this occurs," Cordell said. "So the education part of this, acknowledging that it is a real problem."

He hopes that parents become aware of potential dangers, and certain situations could be avoided.

"It saddens me that abductions occur and maybe could have been prevented," Cordell said. "It all starts with an open communication with your child and set boundaries in my opinion."

He added that "Having that conversation is a win right there. That's fulfilling."

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There's a lot of work to be done, and it won't be easy, but Cordell hopes that this could lead to a child being found.

"It's a start," Cordell said.

Cordell Motorsports, which is in its second full season of racing, competes around the tri-state area. Information about the team and this initiative can be found on his Facebook page.