Safe Haven Baby Box Blessing Ceremony Held at BKP

BKP Ambulance District hosted a Safe Haven Baby Box unveiling and blessing ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

(Mariah Betz at the podium)

Mariah Betz, Assistant Project Coordinator for Safe Haven Baby Boxes talks about the importance these kind of boxes, “These boxes offer 100 percent anonymity, and that’s what parents want is not be asked a bunch of questions, not to try to have somebody change their mind, they just want to come in, do what’s right by their baby, place their baby in the box and walk away and that’s all they have to do.”

(Shelly Prater)

BKP Assistant Chief Shelly Prater worked tirelessly to make this a reality, “I saw that St. Rita’s had to open their box, I kind of want to investigate a little bit, and once I open it up and investigated, I saw how many babies were actually abandoned every year. That kind of got me thinking as a first responder, do I want by friends showing up and finding a baby abandoned in the forest, in a front yard, in a garbage can, and I knew that I did not want that to happen.”

(inside look of Safe Haven Baby Box)

When a mother opens the door at BKP, the baby is placed inside a climate-controlled chamber that is kept at 70 degrees year-round. An alarm notifies first responders, and Prater said the baby is removed from the box within 5 minutes, The baby then will be taken to Hardin Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

Initial funding has been provided by OhioHealth, and Charity Coffman, Director of Nursing for Hardin, Marion and Morrow, said they are looking at additional funding sources going forward, “It will continue to run as long as those donations are coming in from whatever avenues, so we’re already looking at sources that associates across the board can contribute wherever they see fit, and definitely we’ll look at ways that as those funds need to be replenished, how we can just do it seamlessly.”

This blessing box marks the 471st Safe Haven Baby Box in the nation and 29th in Ohio.

Kenton Mayor Lynn Webb and Council President Joel Althauser gave remarks during the ceremony, and Pastor Eric Risner, from Abundant Life Assembly of God Church, offered the blessing prayer.