Article submitted by The Pilot News Managing Editor James Master
The dedication for the 89th Safe Haven Baby Box (SHBB) was held on Wednesday. In October, it was announced that the baby box was installed on the west wall of the Plymouth Fire Department along W. LaPorte Street.
“When my assistant, Laura, came to me with the information for the Safe Haven Baby Box that she heard about at her Indiana Mayor’s Assistants conference, I knew that no matter what we’d be making this project happen. For those of you that know Laura, you know that when she takes on a project, she takes on a project,” said Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter. “After hearing the details, I was completely on board and told her to do whatever it takes.”
The mayor then introduced the founder of SHBB, Monica Kelsey.
“Today, women in this community have a last resort option available for them if they find themselves in a crisis that they feel that they can’t get out of,” Kelsey said.
Kelsey explained a little bit about the origin of SHBB. She is the first lady of Woodburn and spoke to her husband about installing the first baby box in Woodburn’s fire department.
“I never thought that Woodburn, Indiana would ever have a baby surrendered. I just put a box there because I wanted that to be home of Safe Haven Baby Box number one in the country, but in February 2019, a small city in Indiana called Woodburn, Indiana saved the life of a little seven-pound, five-ounce little girl who was surrendered at our firehouse,” said Kelsey.
Kelsey said that was the goal of SHBB, making sure that babies are surrendered in a safe environment. The newly installed baby box in Plymouth is number 89 in the country.
The Ataya Kaser Memorial Scholarship was set up by Safe Haven Baby Box in 2019. It is in honor of 14-year-old Ataya that died in a car accident on Oct. 7, 2018. She volunteered with SHBB with her mother, Corie Walls.
Walls donated a bench to the City of Plymouth. “Placing this bench here means a lot to me and my family for multiple reasons. To go back a little bit, Ataya was my daughter and the first time she heard Monica’s story the way you just did, she looked at me, at the age of 13, and said ‘mom, I want to be a part of this. I want to help.’ She loved the ministry that Monica is doing and just thought that it was amazing. And unfortunately, about a year and a half later, Ataya was killed in a car accident at the age of 14. So, she was not able to help in the way that she wanted to and after she passed, Monica came to me with the idea of the memorial scholarship in her name. It’s one of those things that I hate the fact that we have a memorial scholarship, but we’re honored to be able to keep Ataya’s memory alive.”
Corie’s goal is to donate a bench at every baby box. The bench at the Plymouth Fire Department is bench number 18. “So, I have a long way to go.”
Walls said that having a bench in Plymouth is special because Ataya was born in Plymouth and Corie was raised in Walkerton. “So, we’re very close to the community.”
The funding for the Plymouth SHBB came at no expense to the taxpayer. Mayor Senter thanked the following for their time, talent, and financial gifts: John and Brooke Large of Make Your Move Home Creations, LLC for their expertise in the construction aspect, Chuy Garcia for his masonry skills, Plymouth Community Church, New Song Church, Knights of Columbus, Crossroads Evangelical Church, First Brethren Church of Teegarden, Plymouth Wesleyan Church, Delta Theta Tau sorority, American Legion Post 27, and Elks Lodge #2548.
“On behalf of myself, the City Council, and the citizens of Plymouth, please accept our heartfelt appreciation for stepping up and making this dream a reality,” said Senter.
Congresswoman Jackie Walorski attended the blessing and spoke about the importance of SHBB in Plymouth.
“The fact that we have two individual women that are changing the course of the world for these babies that are dropped off inside a fire department. Because they’re passionate and because they wanted to do something, that’s how change happens inside a community. There’s no better community to lead when it comes to being there for vulnerable mothers and vulnerable babies than Plymouth,” said Walorski.
Pastor Rob Keck, Teegarden First Brethren Church, gave the invocation for the event. Pastor Collin Seitz from the Crossroads Church blessed the baby box.
