OWASCO - The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that about 2,000 children are reported missing in the United States every day.

For many families this is often a temporary scare, as their child turns up within a few hours, but for far too many, the scare becomes a nightmare.

The mission of NCMEC is help recover missing children and protect children from sexual exploitation and other harm.

This is a cause that Curt Werner, of Auburn, takes very seriously.

Werner has helped organize the Finger Lakes Ride for Missing for the past five years.

“I did my first ride in Utica,” Werner said. “It was a tremendous experience and I thought this was something that we could do here in Auburn to help raise awareness for this great cause.”

The 100-mile ride left Emerson Park in Owasco bright and early Friday morning, making stops along the way at local schools in Owasco, Cato, Baldwinsville, Marcellus and others, before looping back to Emerson Park.

These stops gave riders the opportunity to pass along information to children and teachers about preventative measures that can be taken to help protect children.

“It gives us the opportunity to do a little education,”

Werner said. “We have pencils and things like that to give out, but basically we are there to give out information on general safety like using the buddy system and other things like that children can do to be safer.”

As many as 80 riders have participated in the Finger Lakes ride in past years, and this year also saw a strong turnout, with 53 riders from across central New York coming out to show their support.

“It is a tremendous event,” Werner said. “It is also a very unique ride. For us it is a very fun thing we can do to help raise money and awareness and I think that helps draw people to these kinds of rides.”

Many riders, like Kimberly Morse, of Fairport, have participated in other rides in New York and were eager to hit the roads of the Finger Lakes region.

“This benefits a great cause,” Morse said. “For me it is a good reason to get out and go for a ride.”

While 100 miles is no small task, Werner said that the ride is not a race and that every year every rider that has participated has finished the entire ride.

“We do this as a group,” Werner said. “And we finish as a group. It may take some a little longer than others, but we all always finish this ride together as a group.”

In many ways it is the challenge of the ride that appeals to so many.

“I've been in these rides in Rochester for four years,” Michael Davis, of Rochester, said. “I've been invited to be here a few times and this year I finally had time in my schedule to make it. I'm really excited. One hundred miles is a challenge, but it's enjoyable and it is for a great cause.”

Each rider is asked to raise pledges of at least $250 to enter the ride, and Werner estimated that this year's group raised about $20,000.

All the proceeds raised go to the NCMEC's New York branch, supporting programs like child identification, school-based education programs, and the creation and distribution of posters to help find missing children.

“This is a very important issue,” Werner said. “This ride is something we can do to help. For us it is a fun ride and a great experience and it helps raise awareness and money for NCMEC-NY and we're glad to be able to do that anyway we can.”