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An infant named Mia was saved by an ingenious item on a fire department building: a “Safe Haven” baby drop box.
The drop box is located in Seymour, Indiana, and it has a special story. Local teenager Hunter Wart, 19, mowed lawns and turned in scrap metal to raise the $10,000 needed to have the drop box installed.
Safe Haven Baby Drop Boxes are the invention of Monica Kelsey, the owner of a nonprofit that creates and installs them. The boxes are warm, safe, and mothers in distress can access them anonymously. By leaving a baby in the box, the mother alerts nearby first responders to the child’s presence and surrenders the infant to the state.
Kelsey, who was abandoned as an infant, says the boxes are incredibly important to her. Here’s how it works: A mother surrenders their baby to a safe box. Firefighters then tend to the baby until an ambulance can take them to the hospital for a screening. Then, they are in the care of state social services. This is a fate much preferable to the one that normally awaits abandoned children.
According to Kelsey, at one point, three abandoned infants were dying in Indiana every year. That number has fallen to zero since the Safe Haven boxes have been installed. First responders constantly check the boxes, and the mothers can surrender their babies anonymously. This makes the boxes ideal for mothers in crisis and babies who need care.
Following Mia’s discovery in the safe box, Seymour mayor Matt Nicholson awarded Hunter Wart with a token of appreciation. In a press conference before reporters, he said,
“Here we are 224 days later and we’ve had our first baby saved by the box, and I think that’s an awesome feat. I’m glad the city of Seymour and the council chose to get the box when they did.”
Wart said he was just happy that the infant was safe. As for any kind of compensation for his kindness, Wart kept things light and had a sense of humor.
“I’m hopeful that one day she will see the story of how she was safely surrendered in the Safe Haven Baby Box I raised the money for…and search online for me.”
