FRANKFORT, Ky. — Capital City Christian Church is helping extend a safe option for parents of infants to prevent child abandonment.
Jon Sutphin is a devoted community leader and the pastor of Capital City Christian church in Frankfort. He says it’s a place that opens its doors to as many people and services in Frankfort that need it.
He says the church makes it a point to help the community and each other financially. “If they have an extra dollar or two that they want to put in a white bucket, that’s placed at our worship stations around the room that’s going to go into our generous bucket,” Sutphin said.
He says in a year their church raises $50,000-$60,000 in donations to help people, families, mission work and financially support folks through hardships.
Sutphin says their outreach and effort sometimes go beyond their church, now impacting situations on a larger scale.
It was the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, plus other factors led them to partner with Safe Haven baby boxes for another solution to unexpected or unwanted pregnancies.
“When the Supreme Court decided to overturn Roe v. Wade, we as a church family just felt like there was something that we needed to do to be able to support young ladies who found themselves in a tough situation with a pregnancy that maybe they weren’t prepared for or ready for and, you know, oftentimes churches are known for what they’re against,” Sutphin explained.
Recently, their latest city-wide effort received their final touches at the Holmes Street fire station, with a new Safe Haven baby box installed.
The box, which opens from the outside, has instructions on its exterior to open the box, place the under-30-days-old child into the bassinet, and grab any resources inside that fall out.
Right now, there are almost 30 fully operational Safe Haven boxes around Kentucky.
Safe Haven baby boxes were founded by Monica Kelsey, someone who found out she was abandoned as an infant and learned about the boxes in Cape Town, Africa.
Sutphin is adamant while they never want it used, it can be a difference-making solution. “You know, you hope that it’s never used, but we’re grateful that we can have it here so that if there is a need, moms now have a place where they can come and bring their infant,” Sutphin explained.
Emergency responders remind people in these situations to contact or use local hospitals, fire and police station resources.