Fire Chief Brian Hendricks of the Mehlville Fire Protection District (MFPD) was recently named a recipient of the 2026 Outstanding Local Government Achievement (OLGA) Award for his efforts in installing two Safe Haven Baby Boxes in the fire district and expanding the program across the state.
“The greatest measure of this project’s success isn’t the number of boxes installed or the awards received,” Maryellen Murphy, who nominated Hendricks for the award, stated in a press release. “It is the children who are alive and safe because someone made sure their mothers had another choice. There are families today raising children they love because this community came together and refused to give up on an idea that could save a life.”
The Safe Haven Baby Box is temperature-controlled, with a bassinet inside where the baby can be placed, built into the exterior wall of the firehouse. When the outer door of the baby box is opened, the first alarm is activated. Once the door is shut, another alarm is activated to tell emergency responders that the baby is in the box. There is a 30-second delay to allow the parent, or person acting on the parent’s behalf, to leave and maintain anonymity. The boxes are intended to provide parents a way to surrender their child safely.
MFPD was the first fire district in Missouri to install a baby box, which officially opened in August 2023. Its second baby box opened in November 2025.
“I could not be happier to see Chief Hendricks receive this recognition,” Maryellen Murphy stated in a press release. “I have nominated Brian for recognition before because he truly took this project on as his baby. Being first is never easy. There was no Missouri blueprint to follow, but Brian worked through the regulations, safety requirements, training, alarms, procedures and all the other challenges that came with doing something that had never been done before in our state. Then, instead of stopping when Mehlville’s box was operational, he began helping other communities do the same.”
Hendricks will receive the award in the Exemplary Accomplishment by a Local Government Jurisdiction, Agency, or Individual category. The award is presented by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments each year for “individuals, organizations, and programs that collaborate across boundaries to create innovative solutions for communities throughout the St. Louis region.” Hendricks will be recognized during an awards luncheon in November.
Per Murphy, in addition to installing two Safe Haven Baby Boxes at MFPD firehouses, one at Fire House 2 and one at Fire House 5, Hendricks went on to share his advice and resources with other fire departments and communities in Missouri.
