July 28, 2005

Tiny treasures

Once abandoned, four unclaimed newborns find compassion, peace in respectful burial service

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

There are those in the business of saving lives who, despite the carnage they see every day, refuse to turn away until giving victims back the dignity they deserve. Recently two such women stepped out of their safety zone to provide final resting places for four abandoned infants.

“Some are here out of compassion,” said Reverend Kevin McCauley. “Others might be here out of curiosity, and some might have questions. Regardless of what our reasons are, we are all here to find answers to these questions in life. For some today, there might be resolution, and for others, maybe closure.”

The victims came in the form of tiny newborns, lying cold and unclaimed in the refrigerated bowels of the Santa Clara County Coroner’s office, and it was more than American Medical Response (AMR) emergency medical technician Virginia Jones and paramedic Christine Gonzales could bear. Four babies who were never given a chance to live were instead tossed in a dumpster with the afternoon trash or faced some other horrible fate. The details of their deaths were not released.

The little “packages” were discovered by Jones when her work with local schoolchildren on the AMR-sponsored “Every 15 Minutes” program led to a visit to the coroner’s office to film a segment for their presentation.

“When they told me they had been unclaimed by their families, that sparked a lot of questions,” she said. “They didn’t deserve to be put in that situation. They didn’t ask to be born. So we decided the best thing would be to try and give these babies a proper burial.”

Two women on a mission
Together Jones and Gonzales embarked upon a mission to make a difference in the communities they serve by claiming the babies and putting them at last to rest, or they would have to live with the knowledge that the babies would otherwise be cremated and disposed of.

In just a few short months, the women championed the efforts and compassion of the Coroner’s Office, The Los Gatos Community Cemetery, and “Every 15 Minutes” partner, Darling-Fischer Funeral Home in an effort to secure a final resting place for the tiny lost souls.

According to Reverend Kevin McCauley, those at the July 22 memorial service at Los Gatos Memorial Park attended for very different reasons.

“Some are here out of compassion,” he said. “Others might be here out of curiosity, and some might have questions. Regardless of what our reasons are, we are all here to find answers to these questions in life. For some today, there might be resolution, and for others, maybe closure.”

Rev. McCauley stressed that in a larger sense, there were four families who may or may not have been represented at the service, but, in hearing of the compassion for their little ones, might find closure themselves.

Looking forward, Jones hopes to continue the work that could in the future ensure the proper burial of all unclaimed babies. Although not yet official, plans to establish a non-profit foundation are underway and will include aggressive fundraising campaigns, money that will pay for flowers, caskets, clothing, receiving blankets—even teddy bears.

“These little ones here all have something to take with them now,” she said.

Many groups offer ‘silence’ to distraught mothers who give up their babies
Admittedly, their most significant challenge will be the most difficult. Even with assistance from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, who last year, declared all fire stations within the county to be Safe Haven Sites, young mothers who either don’t want or cannot care for their newborns are hesitant to test the “no-questions-asked” theory and surrender their babies to authorities.

Since then, more groups have added their “silence” to the cause. Virginia and Christine’s employer has agreed to provide free transport and care to a hospital where newborns can be further examined and put into the custody of social services.

“We want to really campaign and make sure that it’s taught in school that these young girls have a place to go and not do this,” says co-worker Shirley Jackson. “So many people want babies. They can take them to a hospital or a fire station, or anywhere—they can even drop them off on somebody’s front porch.”

Under the 2001 “safe surrender sites” law, mothers can give away their babies within 72 hours of birth at designated facilities—with no questions asked. While the law initially targeted hospitals, fire stations and other public facilities have been added to the list.

With five children and 14 grandchildren, Jackson admits it’s a very emotional subject for her. “I’m never going to understand it,” she says of the infants’ fate. “You can’t make me understand it.”

Babies, admitted Nadine Savino, who manages the funeral home with Gary Cayton, hold a soft spot in her heart, especially in a business that deals with families on a daily basis that have lost children and want them desperately.

“As the need arises, we are definitely there to help,” she said. “We believe so much in our funeral home that the community gives so much that we need to give back to the community. And if it’s a baby—I’m there. They never had a chance in this world. They never had anyone, so we wrapped them in a blanket, gave them a toy, a love, and a proper burial. It’s something we could do to help out the community. It shows that we don’t just deal with death all the time, we honor life.”

Although there is still much to do to create awareness and build the trust necessary to eliminate the perceived need for a young mother to abandon her newborn, there is hope that by getting the message out, more babies will be saved in the future.

“If we can raise awareness with these types of events, maybe we can avoid another unclaimed child,” added AMR fire service liaison and public relations officer Marsha Morrow. “We hope by raising awareness through this public service campaign that we have fewer babies die needlessly by being abandoned on roadsides or in dumpsters.”

Thanks to the compassion and determination of two women who rallied others to the cause, each tiny baby was clothed, wrapped in a blanket, and laid to rest in a hand upholstered casket.

In the meantime, education and trust are key components to the success of their program, especially in a day and age where a mother can take her baby to any hospital, fire station, police station, public library, ambulance, patrol car—or perhaps even, said Savino, their funeral home.

Buried together
Although the varying circumstances that led to their tragic deaths may never be known, their souls can now rest, thanks to the compassion and determination of two women who rallied others to the cause until each tiny baby was clothed, wrapped in a blanket, and laid to rest in a hand upholstered casket—with a teddy bear to keep them company.

Carefully placed together in one grave, they will never again be alone and will share the stone that stands guard over its “Little Treasures.” It was a fitting and dignified end for the four tiny little lives that never had a chance to spread their wings.

For information on how you may help, contact Marcie Morrow at (408) 574-3800 x7165. Until the foundation is set up, Jones can be reached at (408) 410-7315 and Nadine Savino at Darling-Fischer Mortuaries at (408) 379-5010.