NORTHBROOK, ILL., MARCH 28, 2003 — The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation will host a celebration on April 4 for the first baby relinquished under Illinois’ Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act. The event will run from 10:00 a.m. to noon at Sugar, a dessert bar at 108 W. Kinzie, Chicago, Illinois. In honor of this child’s first birthday and to promote awareness of the law, Governor Rod Blagojevich has declared April 4 Save Abandoned Babies Day in Illinois.

The celebration and media event follow the Foundation’s statewide release of public service announcements that promote awareness of the law, which works to prevent the deaths of newborn infants by providing distraught parents with a safe mechanism for anonymously relinquishing an infant to the care and custody of a safe haven. In Illinois, safe havens are hospitals, emergency medical facilities, and staffed fire stations.

Please join us at this very special birthday event where you’ll learn more about the law and the media’s critical role in saving the lives of newborns who might otherwise be unsafely abandoned in Illinois.

ITINERARY FOR SAVE ABANDONED BABIES DAY

Friday, April 4, 10:00 a.m. - noon
Sugar, 108 W. Kinzie, Chicago, Illinois

10:30 a.m.: Dawn Geras, president, Save Abandoned Babies Foundation
Introduction to the law and details of the public awareness campaign

10:40 a.m.: James Joyce, commissioner, Chicago Fire Department
What happens when a newborn is relinquished under the law

10:45 a.m.: Jess McDonald, director
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
How the law protects newborn infants, their parents, and State
resources

10: 50 a.m.: The adoptive parents, their experience, their gratitude, and their hope

10:55 a.m.: Questions and answers

The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization of volunteers dedicated to saving the lives of newborn infants who might otherwise be unsafely abandoned in Illinois. It focuses on public awareness of Illinois’ safe haven law, The Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act, which provides a process for anonymously relinquishing a newborn.

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Contact:

Save Dawn Geras, Abandoned Babies Foundation
847-272-9334

Jill Manuel
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
312-814-6847