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#Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation- Mission

Every parent should have the right to know if a dangerous sexual predator moves into their neighborhood. That is why Richard and Maureen Kanka made it their lives' mission to see the enactment of Megan's Law in every state.

The Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation is a 501 c 3 non-profit, charitable organization founded by the Kanka family. The foundation wants to ensure that every possible step is taken to help prevent the future victimization of children. It is their hope and dream that no other child anywhere will suffer the fate of Megan Kanka.

OUR MISSION

Richard and Maureen Kanka thought that their daughter Megan was safe. The Kankas had lived for fifteen years in quiet, suburban Hamilton Township, New Jersey. A family of five, they worked hard, paid their taxes, believed in God, charity, and the goodness of others.

On July 29, 1994, Richard and Maureen had their lives shattered when their 7-year old daughter Megan was lured into a neighbor's home with the hopes of seeing his puppy. Shortly after, thirty yards from her front doorstep, Megan Kanka was raped and murdered.

Unknown to the Kankas, a convicted sex offender lived across the street. The murderer had already served six years in prison for aggravated assault and attempted sexual assault on another child. "We knew nothing about him", says Maureen Kanka.

"If we had been aware of his record, my daughter would be alive today." Letters poured into the Kanka family home with offers of support and contributions to a memorial fund. The result of this tragedy was a nationwide law. A law that would give parents what they desperately wanted: the right to know. A law that would require notification when a convicted sex offender moves into a neighborhood. A law to protect our children.

Passed hand-to-hand, over 400,000 citizens signed a petition demanding immediate legislative action on the law that had to be written-Megan's Law. Within an unprecedented eighty-nine days, the New Jersey State Legislature passed Megan's Law.

Megan could have been anybody's child. She was everybody's child, a poignant symbol of the obligation that each of us has to make sure that children are safe in their own community and that every parent has the right to know when a child is in harm's way.

Much has been done to protect children. Much, however, remains to be done.