MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – When Marion County Fire Rescue (MCFR) Paramedic Deb Bush walked into the department one day, she noticed something was missing.
Was it the firetrucks? No, those were either parked in the station or dispatched. Hoses? Well, there are plenty of those.
She took a deep breath and surveyed her surroundings. What was it that was missing?
Bush then peered over to the stack of blankets and baby hats that MCFR provides to newly born babies.
That’s when it clicked; Bush noticed that the department was almost out of them!
Upon learning of this development, Bush told her mother, Patricia McWhorter, who was conveniently visiting Ocala from her home in Canada.
McWhorter adhered to the problem and immediately bunkered down, hand-knitting a batch of new baby hats and blankets. She produced hats in two sizes, fitting both premature and full-term babies, each with a label that read “Welcome to the world, little one – From MCFR and Ms. Pat.”
What made McWhorter’s knitted blankets and baby hats increasingly important was the opening of MCFR’s first Save Haven Baby Box at their newest station, EMS Central.
The implementation of the baby box increases the arrival of newborn babies at the department’s front doorstep. McWhorter donated the first batch of baby hats and blankets just ten days after the opening of the baby box.
This is merely just the beginning for McWhorter, as MCFR says she plans on knitting blankets and baby hats for every MCFR rescue and medic unit.