Newton nonprofit holds fundraiser to install safe haven baby box
The plan was first presented in 2024 when Jasper County Attorney General Scott Nicholson brought the idea to the Open Arms Foundation of Jasper County, a nonprofit that provides support for children facing crisis or are in the foster care system.
Open Arms was founded last year and provides backpacks with necessary supplies and comfort items to children who were removed from their biological families. So far, the nonprofit has helped 200 children and families, according to founder and director Nick Pietrack.
At the beginning of 2025, Open Arms started fundraising for a baby box in Newton. Their goal is $30,000.
Pietrack says the box is estimated to cost $20,000, plus $500 in annual fees for maintenance, training, certification, and other expenses. His goal is to raise enough that the cost is covered for many years.
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Around $15,000 has been raised so far, but the organization plans on fundraising for the rest of the year.
Pietrack said the baby box will be installed in Newton even if the fundraising goal isn't met, but he commends the community's ability to come together in support of this cause.
'I've seen a tremendous ability in Jasper County for us to gather our community for positive things. So, it's very heartwarming and wonderful to see the support and we're excited about it,' he said.
The baby box will be located at the MercyOne Newton Medical Center. Pietrack said the current plan is to have the box located outside the emergency room and near the ambulance bays, however the hospital will be remodeling soon, so the exact location in the hospital is subject to change.
'We want to be proactive, not reactive. So, the reason for some of the baby boxes being installed in other communities are reactive towards horrible incidences that have happened, tragic deaths of infant children,' he said.
Newton is now the fourth Iowa community to start the process of installing a baby box.
The Iowa Safe Haven Act went into effect in 2002, and it provides parents in crisis an option to safely surrender an infant up to 90-days-old. The law was expanded in 2023, allowing communities to implement their own safe haven baby boxes.
Since then, baby boxes were installed at the Fort Dodge Fire Department and the MercyOne Medical Center in Des Moines. The Norwalk Fire Department announced last year that they are in the process of installing a baby box as a result of a baby's death in 2023.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday that a baby girl was recently surrendered safely through the Safe Haven Law. She is the third infant to be surrendered this year and the 77th since the law was put into effect, according to the department's press release.
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