What 500 New York Residents Want to Do for One Abandoned Baby Girl

A tiny baby girl, who was recently left at a firehouse on Thanksgiving Day, is up for adoption and more than 500 New York residents have offered to care for the infant.

AMT Children of Hope Foundation founder and president, Timothy Jaccard, began receiving phone calls about the infant nicknamed "Baby Girl Hope" shortly after New York media outlets shared her story.

"Baby Girl Hope" was dropped off at a firehouse in Wantagh, New York by a woman, who Jaccard believes to be her mother. 

New York law allows a parent to anonymously bring an infant to a safe haven, including a firehouse or police station.

Jaccard said the women called him and made arrangements to drop off the child, who is the 15th infant to be surrendered this year in the New York area.

After news got out about the baby's story, Jaccard received calls from people wanting to care for the baby.

Jaccard said that although the woman claimed to be the child's mother, authorities will check the national databases of missing and exploited children to ensure the little girl had not been kidnapped.

He explained that the databases will be checked against a New York registry for fathers who suspect that their children may have been abandoned.

Jaccard noted they will be contacted if they are interested in having the child's DNA tested for a possible match.

If no matches are found, the child eventually will be placed in the foster care system by the Nassau County Department of Social Services. Karen Garber, a department spokeswoman, told the Associated Press that the county maintains a list of qualified parents with whom the child could be placed.

She said the priority is given to parents who have expressed an interest in adopting the child.