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LANSING — An annual contest is giving area children the chance to flex their creative muscles, while bringing attention to a statewide cause.

The Michigan State Police Missing Children’s Clearinghouse is inviting fifth-grade students statewide to participate in the 2021 National Missing Children’s Day Poster Contest. The annual contest creates an opportunity to promote child safety while discussing the issue of missing and/or exploited children, officials said.

According to MSP, there are almost 700 missing children in Michigan currently.

Michigan’s top winning artist will have a shot at the national contest, which includes a free trip to Washington D.C. and their artwork featured as the National Missing Children’s Day poster. Artists from Michigan have won the national contest in 2015 and 2018.   

Contest rules are as follows:

• Applicants must be in the fifth grade.

• Original artwork should reflect the theme “Bringing Our Missing Children Home” and the phrase must appear somewhere on the poster.

• Digitally produced images, collages, cut-outs and stamping will not be eligible for consideration.

• The finished poster must measure 8-and-a-half by 14 inches.

The poster must be submitted with a complete application, which includes a description of the artwork and a brief biography of the artist, either written or typed. Submissions must be postmarked by Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, and must be mailed to:

Michigan State Police

Missing Children’s Clearinghouse

Attn: Ms. Jolene Hardesty

7150 Harris Drive

Dimondale, MI 48821