Parishes Fund Installation of Baby Boxes
July 10, 2026
By Ann Pierson
A new resource for surrendering a baby is available to those in the Des Moines Metro.
A Safe Haven Baby Box, a non-contact surrender option, has been added to the Norwalk and Windsor Heights Fire Department. Safe Haven Baby Box is a nonprofit organization that promotes Safe Haven laws, or the legal right to surrender a child with “no shame, no blame, no names.” They also provide resources to parents in crisis and offer their baby box technologies.
These boxes make up two out of three boxes in the Metro area, with the third box located at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. St. John the Apostle in Norwalk and St. Augustin’s in Des Moines led fundraising for their community’s projects.
The baby box in Norwalk was dedicated in November of last year after St. John the Apostle’s Altar and Rosary Society and Knights of Columbus donated funds to start and upkeep the baby box. After a firefighter and fellow Knight proposed the idea, the parish community was eager to help, especially after the Norwalk community suffered from tragedies with infants.
“We’re heavily invested in the concept of the box and what it takes to keep it going,” Matt Elliott, Grand Knight of St. John the Apostle’s Knights Council said. “This helps us commit to the community. The box is there for everyone.”
The Altar and Rosary society used the funds from their craft auction and the Knights of Columbus held a pancake breakfast for the cause. Elliott said the Knights intend to hold a pancake breakfast annually for the upkeep of the box.
Shelli Sherer, the Co-President of Altar and Rosary, appreciated the project’s life-affirming message: God has a plan for that infant, and the baby box gives the caregivers of a child the opportunity to let that plan unfold.
“I’m just incredibly pleased we are part of this,” Sherer said.
Mike Kulik, a Knight at St. Augustin’s, first learned of the baby box while reading an issue of Columbia, the monthly magazine of the Knights of Columbus.
“As Knights, we are concerned about the dignity of life,” Kulik said. “And I thought, ‘this can apply to all political spectrums. Who doesn’t want a baby to live and have a safe place to grow up, to thrive?’”
When Kulik brought the idea to his Knights council, they responded with great enthusiasm for the project. The council presented the idea to the Windsor Heights Fire Department who were eager to assist in the project.
“We are service providers to the community, and when we can implement something we think will be of valuable service [we try to do so],” Jim Mease, Fire Chief of the Windsor Heights Fire Department, said. “[The baby box] can pay huge dividends for both the mother and potential parents who want to adopt.”
The Knights collected donations from the St. Augustin community, as well as individuals of Windsor Heights and Sacred Heart Parish in West Des Moines. The baby box will be available for use this summer.
To use the box, caregivers open the door on the box, which sends a preliminary alert to first responders. Then, parents place the child inside a bin and close the door, triggering a second alarm. The baby boxes are climate-controlled and rigorously tested, and first responders arrive within minutes to bring the child to medical providers.
Each baby box also has a resource packet for caregivers for after they surrender their child. The box, available 24/7, is completely anonymous.
“There was always this stigma of going to a fire station to surrender a baby, meeting someone face to face,” Mease said. “[This] provides someone that anonymity.”
The baby box is meant to be a resource to those in the larger community, and supporters of the box hope its presence spreads awareness.
“This is perfect for people who are concerned about how to preserve life,” Kulik said. “Everyone wants to save the life of a baby.”
For information about Safe Haven Baby Box, please visit https://www.shbb.org.
A baby box was installed with the support of the local Catholic Church in Norwalk, Iowa to provide a life-saving option for families that want to place their infants with a loving family.