DANVERS — Selectmen tonight are being asked to accept a donation from St. Mary's School of the Annunciation to jump-start a "lock box" program designed to make seniors who live alone feel more secure.
The inclusive, kindergarten-through-eighth-grade Catholic school for boys and girls on Otis Street is donating $6,300 in proceeds from a recent walkathon to the Fire Department's new lock box program, fire Chief Kevin Farrell said.
Lock boxes are key safes that the Fire Department plans to provide to elderly residents who live alone, Farrell said. The resident's key would be placed inside, and firefighters would be the only ones able to open the box to access the house key in case of an emergency.
"The Fire Department is the only organization that has the key to the safe," Farrell said. It would be too cumbersome to keep a copy of everyone's key at the station on High Street, and it would cause a delay if a firefighter had to be sent to fetch it.
"Now you are going through a ring of keys," Farrell said.
The lock box program provides a single key to unlock all the key safes. Such keys cannot be copied, Farrell said. Lock boxes are in wide use commercially.
Residential key safes cost $55 to $60, and it can be hard for someone on a fixed income to afford the added expense. The donation will pay for the boxes.
The gift comes by way of the Archdiocese of Boston, Farrell said. Proceeds are from a walkathon held at the school on May 10. It's an event the school holds each year for a worthy cause.
"It was shocking to find out how much the boys and girls raised," said Principal Katherine Hunter, who said the event is advertised by word-of-mouth within the St. Mary's community.
Farrell's sister, Kathy Armstrong, is a third-grade teacher at the school, and Hunter said Armstrong brought the idea of the lock box cause to groups at school involved in the charity event, including the student council.
"As a Catholic school, part of our mission is to give to others," Hunter said.
Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673, at eforman@salemnews.com or on Twitter @DanverSalemNews.
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