A major donation will boost efforts by Penn State Children’s Hospital to keep babies safe in vehicles across central Pennsylvania.

Nuna is donating 390 of its infant car seats to the hospital’s Pediatric Injury Prevention Program. In turn, the program’s specialists will provide them to families in need across the region. The donated seats are valued at $117,000.

“With this generous donation from Nuna, we can make sure hundreds more families have the seats they need for their newborns to ride safely,” said Shannon DePatto, a health educator with the Pediatric Injury Prevention Program, which works with several community partners to identify families in need of infant car seats.

Sutliff Auto Group, a long-time partner of the program, has agreed to store the donated seats at no cost. Since 1998, they have provided the program access to a service bay where its specialists conduct free car seat installations and inspections.

Inspections are also conducted on the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center campus and at the Lower Paxton Township Police Department. To schedule an appointment, people can call 717-531-SAFE (7233).

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, nearly three out of four child restraints and car seats are not properly installed. A correctly installed child restraint can greatly reduce the risk of injury or death in an automobile accident.

The Pediatric Injury Prevention Program provides community education, equipment and resources on a range of issues. More information about the program can be found here.