HOBART FIRE STATION INSTALLS 27TH SAFE HAVEN BABY BOX IN THE COUNTRY
This morning a small crowd gathered on the lawn at Hobart Fire Station #2 to partake in the blessing of the new Safe Haven Baby Box.
The Safe Haven Baby Box is an anonymous place to surrender with no name and no shame. The boxes are equipped with alarm systems to immediately notify fire station staff inside the station. They also feature heating and cooling and the outside door locks as soon as the mother closes it. This box marks the 23rd box in Indiana. In the last 30 days, 3 infants have safely been surrendered in one of the 26 Safe Haven Baby Boxes. Indiana is one of only 5 states to include additional surrender into its Safe Haven Laws.
Robert Scott, mastermind behind getting this project started, told RNS he began this in 2018 when he approached the chief with his idea. Scott said he got the inspiration in 2017 when he seen multiple articles from Cool Springs about a baby being surrendered. He got in contact with Monica Kelsey founder of Safe Haven Baby Box and began working on the steps to getting to where we are today.
September of 2018 a bingo was help which raised a few thousand dollars. Former councilwoman Monica Wiley and a dear friend of Robert Scott, Art Miller were both large contributors to the project along with 30 – 40 other contributors.
Thomas Broertjes and Russ Anderson of 1800BoardUp donated all construction of the baby box as a gift to the fire department they told RNS.
Chief also told RNS that this baby box is bittersweet and it’s much like a fire department, glad it’s there but you hope you never have to use it.
-Ashley Fenes – RNS
