PARIS – The Don’t Shake Jake Foundation held a community baby shower Saturday morning at the South Paris Fire Station. Executive Director and founder Pam Belisle gave an educational presentation on shaken baby syndrome to a full house of parents and children.
Tables of baby and childrens’ items, new and used, lined the room. Items included cribs, rockers, car seats, toys, clothes and other necessary baby items that were donated by businesses and individuals.
After the presentation, the parents were able to pick out whatever they wanted.
Foundation Board Member Heather LaVoie of Dayton said all items were free to any parents expecting a child or who have children age 5 and under, but it was mandatory that those in attendance listen to the presentation on shaken baby syndrome.
“We see more stuff coming in this year, some bringing back stuff they were done with. It’s been great. It’s for everybody,” she said.
This is an annual event that started in Biddeford. It is now in its fifth year, LaVoie said. “It is a statewide program. We go to different areas each year. We haven’t had a case of shaken baby syndrome now in three years in the state of Maine.
“We try to teach the parents to put the baby down in a safe place and let the baby cry when the baby is crying inconsolably and the parent is out of patience. The baby is not going to die from crying,” she said.
On April 27, 1998, Pam Belisle’s 16-month-old son, Jake David Belisle, became a victim of shaken baby syndrome by his baby sitter. He died the next day. The sitter was sentenced to 8 years in prison. Vowing to not let her son die in vain, Belisle and her husband, David M. Belisle Jr., founded the “Don’t Shake Jake” Awareness Program.
More information is available at www.dontshakejake.org. People also may call (207) 934-0878 or write to Don’t Shake Jake Awareness Program, 8 Pine Cone Drive, Old Orchard Beach, ME 04064.
Comments are no longer available on this story