When a new “baby box” (babies box) was installed this summer in a fire station in the city of O’Fallon, in Missouri (United States), promoters knew that one day I could save a life. Few expected that moment to arrive so soon.
Less than 60 days after the box was blessed and inaugurated at station 3 of the O’Fallon fire protection district, the lifeguards safely recovered a healthy newborn, deposited there by their mother, on the morning of September 13.
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The O’Fallon box was funded by Council 2269 of the Knights of Colón. For the great gentleman, Tom Zangriles, the news of the delivery was both surprising and deeply moving.
“He gave me chilling. No one expected it to happen so fast. That it was as soon as he really took us all by surprise, in a good way,” Zangriles told the National Catholic Register.
Firefighters recovered the baby from the box in less than a minute and the child was transferred to the nearest hospital for evaluation. The baby’s sex – which is now in the care of a host family – was not revealed for privacy reasons.
The O’Fallon installation is one of more than 300 babies boxes throughout the country, operated by Safe Have Baby Boxes, a non -profit organization based in Indiana and founded by Monica Kelsey.
These devices, which seem like a tight box embedded in the wall of a building, offer mothers the option to deliver legal, anonymously and permanently to their newborns. Once the door is closed, a heated crib keeps the baby safe until the trained personnel opens the box from inside the building.
At a press conference on September 22, Kelsey praised the anonymous mother of O’Fallon for her brave decision. The abandonment of babies remains a persistent problem in the US, Kelsey said, remembering that it is estimated that three to four babies are illegally abandoned every day; Just this week, in Austin (Texas), an abandoned newborn was found alive in a garbage container.
“This baby (in O’Fallon) was not abandoned. This child was delivered in a loving, legal, anonymous and safe way,” he said.
Kelsey thanked the local Knights for supporting the project and added that the gentlemen have been “our main collaborators throughout the country, so it is not surprising that they are highlighting in Missouri.”
The idea of the project in O’Fallon emerged about 15 months ago, Zangriles explained, when an employee of the Fire Department approached the knights to ask if they would be interested in helping to finance a box for babies in the suburban community northwest of San Luis. The San Luis area already has several boxes of this type, the first one installed in August 2023 in the Southern Suburb of Mehlville.
Zangriles recalled that his council quickly recognized the harmony of this project with the charitable mission of the Knights.
“This is at the center of what we do: protect the unborn and mothers in need,” he said.
The Council raised around $ 15,000 to cover the cost of the box, using charitable funds they had in reserve and collected on a trivia night in 2024. After completing the approvals and tests, the box was installed in July 2025.
For tench, it is incredible to look back to the O’Fallon project and realize that only 15 months passed since the idea was born to the successful rescue of a baby.
“I congratulate the young mother who had the courage to deliver to her son. It is not an easy decision to make,” he said.
The laws authorizing the “babies boxes” have extended to almost half of the US states since the first was installed in Indiana a decade ago. Safe Haven He assures that more than 60 newborns have been saved so far thanks to the fact that parents have used these devices. Some states, such as New York and Illinois, are currently considering laws to authorize them.
All US states have laws that allow mothers to safely deliver their newborns without being prosecuted, although most demand that the delivery be face to face in a hospital, fire station, police station or another similar place.
According to Safe Haven, a total of 23 states currently allow anonymous delivery of children through babies boxes; In the case of Missouri, the practice was only legalized from 2022. The laws vary slightly according to the State, but in Missouri it is allowed to deliver in these boxes to newborns of up to 90 days of age.
Zangriles said that the councils of Caballeros de Colón throughout the country would do well in considering babies boxes as an extension of their mission. He added that his advice will seriously analyze more boxes in the future when the opportunity arises; A new law that entered into force this summer in Missouri created a fund of $ 250,000 to match private donations and thus install more boxes.
Zangriles concluded: “(Other tips) will realize that this is such a aligned initiative with who we are, that you really don’t have to think about it too much.”
Translated and adapted by ACI Press. Originally published National Catholic Register.
Jonah McKeown
Jonah McKeown is the writer of the National Catholic Register. Before he was a writer and producer of Podcast of Catholic News Agency. He has a master’s degree from the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri and has worked as a writer, radio producer and cameraman.