By Jessica Fargen
The Boston Herald
Copyright 2006 Boston Herald Inc.
An anonymous angel on a crusade to save abandoned babies emptied his pockets to pay for eye-catching Baby Safe Haven signs that mysteriously popped up in Boston and Taunton, the Herald has learned.
But he’s worried now about the law and promises to jump through the necessary legal hoops to keep those signs up where desperate young mothers can see them.
“I didn’t know it was against the law,” he said last night about the signs he affixed to city signposts. He declined to give his name, but said the recent abandonment of Baby Jordan on a Roslindale lawn got to him, and he didn’t want to see it happen again.
“He’s really concerned about the fact that babies were being dropped off in different places,” said Sharon Belcastro, a manager at Atlantic Highway Sign Co.
Last month, the Taunton shop made 25 signs at $80 a pop for an ambulance driver who wanted to remain anonymous but felt passionate about the Baby Safe Haven law, Belcastro said.
The official-looking fluorescent green and black signs, which showed up in front of hospitals, police and fire stations in Boston and Taunton, let moms know they can drop off a newborn at those locations without fear of prosecution.
The signs have captured the attention of people who applaud it and want to know whose great idea it was.
“Everybody’s been asking everyone,” said a Taunton firefighter.
Mike Morrisey, founder of Baby Safe Haven New England, dubbed the mystery person the “secret Safe Haven Santa.”
Morrisey said there’s not enough money to make new moms aware of the law, resulting in newborns being left for dead in alleys and back yards.
Department of Social Services spokeswoman Denise Monteiro applauded the effort, but wished the signs included the Baby Safe Haven hotline number.
Baby Safe Haven advocates will meet at the State House today to support changes to the law that would add 911 responders to the list of people who could pick up an abandoned baby. Monteiro said the law is working. Just a month ago, a mom left her baby at a Boston-area hospital.