Plain Township's New Home Church adopts infant safety as mission project

PLAIN TWP. – Tina Ramnarine says she'll never forget being part of a "Code Pink" response team tasked with trying to resuscitate a lifeless 2-month-old rushed to Aultman Hospital after the baby had been accidentally smothered while co-sleeping with an adult.

The 20-year nursing veteran has taken up the cause of safe infant sleep as a personal passion and as a faith mission.

Ramnarine is spearheading an effort by the New Home Church to collect donations to purchase Halo SleepSacks to give to families of babies born at Aultman Hospital.

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"Our church has been mission-driven," she said. "I did not realize this church was going to be this generous...I was overwhelmed by the generosity. I didn't know what to say."

New Home Church's SleepSack effort

So far, the nondenominational church co-founded by Benny and Suzanne Griffiths in 2018 has raised $10,800, which it has used to purchase 1,500 SleepSacks.

That's halfway to the church's goal of $20,000.

"What this stemmed from, our church being a small church, we do a lot of mission outreach work," Suzanne Griffiths said.

Griffiths, a lifelong early-childhood educator, said the project fits in perfectly with the church's purpose.

"It takes a village, it really does," she said.

Taking on unsafe sleeping practices in Stark County

Ramnarine, who has worked in pediatrics, neonatology, and the birthing center at Aultman, noted that every three days, a baby in Ohio dies from unsafe sleeping or SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Stark County is one of the top three counties for unsafe sleeping.

"The goal is babies sleeping on their backs," she said.

The SleepSack makes that possible for infants too young to roll over by "swaddling" them in place.

Ramnarine said the push to place infants on their backs to sleep emerged in the mid-1990s, which resulted in a correlation in the decline of SIDS-related deaths.

Benny Griffiths, the church's lay leader and a retired Massillon City Schools educator, said the New Home Church is inspired by Jesus' words in Matthew 25:40 compelling believers to care for "the least of these."

"Our church has focused all of its efforts on meeting the needs of children and students," said Griffiths, who noted that the New Home Church has also donated to AIM Academy and Canton Calvary Mission. "We have a saying a New Home Church, 'We are blessed to be a blessing.'"

Ramnarine said that approximately half of the 2,700 babies born at Aultman every year are born to low-income families who can't always afford to buy a SleepSack, which costs about $22.

The goal, she said, is for every baby discharged to go home in a SleepSack, "and hopefully educate and raise awareness in our community."

The church is seeking $1,000 in donations from 10 large churches.

The Aultman Foundation also has lent its support to the mission.

"These are the smallest, most vulnerable members of our community," Ramnarine said. "If I can send parents home with something that helps their baby, I've reached my goal."

To donate, checks may be sent to Ramnarine with "Safe Sleep" in the memo and mailed to 3442 Enfield Ave. NW Canton, OH, 44708, or visit:

aultmanfoundation.org/home/giving/choose-your-good/safe-sleep/

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: New Home Church buys Halo SleepSacks for families of Aultman newborns