Knit One Save One

I don't remember how I got there, but the other day I came across an advertisement for the Knit One Save One campaign sponsored by Save The Children. Knit One Save One is a grass-roots operation collecting hand-knitted or crocheted hats from all over the U.S. for babies in developing countries. It is part of the larger Survive to 5 campaign that is working to raise awareness of preventable newborn deaths and providing basic health measures to help children survive past their fifth birthday.

Every year, more than 9 million children in the developing world die before they reach the age of 5. That means about 25,000 children under 5 are dying every day! Many of these deaths are from preventable or treatable illnesses like pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, measles and complications related to childbirth. Nearly four million of these deaths occur to newborns – babies less than one month old. A critical element in the solution is the availability of a local community health worker. Save the Children trains community health workers to deliver life-saving care to women and children in remote areas and provides Better Beginnings for Babies Kits to expectant mothers. These kits contain items to promote better hygiene at delivery and promote proper care of newborns. And this is where Knit One Save One project comes into play. Each Better Beginnings for Babies Kit includes a knitted hat that helps keep a baby warm in those first critical hours and days after birth.

Isn't it amazing that something so simple can help save a life? That's why I decided to get busy. I haven't a clue how to knit, but I did learn to crochet as a little girl. So even though I hadn't picked up a crochet hook in over twenty years, I gave it a shot. It took me a few tries and a refresher course of directions downloaded from the internet, but low and behold - a hat!

It may not be the best looking thing and it is certainly filled with it's share of imperfect stitches, but is also filled with the love and good wishes of one mother to another.

So I'm asking you to join the cause. If you already know how to knit or crochet, fantastic! You'll be able to whip one of these up in a couple of hours. If not, these simple crocheting stitches are super easy to learn - believe me - and you'll have a hat finished in a few evenings. Give it a try. Even if you only make one, even if it isn't pretty, you're still making a difference. Like Mother Teresa always liked to say, “It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.”

Click HERE for some basic crocheting instructions.

Click HERE for more info on the Knit One Save One campaign.

If you don't have the time or ability to knit a hat click HERE to donate a Better Beginnings for Babies Kit. It's only $10!

Money I Hope I Never Get A Return On. . .

One of our local radio stations, 105.1 The Buzz is currently on the air for 28 straight hours holding their annual "Valentine's Day for the CCA" telethon which means that I've spent most of the morning re-applying my eyeliner and thanking the powers that be that cancer is not part of my daily vocabulary. The Children's Cancer Association is "an organization dedicated to providing comfort and compassion through a series of innovative programs and services". Services such as the Music Rx cart that strolls through the halls of Doernbecher's Children's hospital providing cd's, Ipods and instruments to kids. They also organize "Chemo Pals" who are volunteers paired up with kids undergoing chemotherapy. Chemo pals talk, listen, laugh and play with these sick kids and more than anything, give the parents a much-needed break. In the last few years the CCA has also built and completely furnished the "Caring Cabin" located on the Oregon Coast as a getaway for families dealing with cancer. To put it simply these people are the saving grace, the life line between desperation and hope for families diagnosed with cancer.

Besides hourly auction items and making direct donations to the CCA, the Valentine's Day for the CCA telethon is also offering $10 valentine e-cards. This is a perfect alternative to yet another box of chocolate and is a cute way to let all your friends know you're thinking of them as well. I have sent a card to all the young moms in my life and challenge all of you that also have healthy, rambunctious, whining, perfect children to do the same. Please help the CCA make a difference.

A Bleeding Heart. . .

Anyone who spends much time with me is pretty quick to realize my feelings on personal responsibility. I believe we are all responsible for ourselves and the choices we make. Going through life with a victim’s attitude will get you no where and that we, above any government or social organization, are responsible for the safety and well-being of our families. It is because of this belief that I am a registered Republican. I know that can be a dirty word these days as can stating that you voted for George Bush, which I did. Twice.

I realize now that may be one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made. The thought that I’ve had anything, even a single citizen’s vote, to do with the chaos and devastation that has been brought upon the people of Iraq, breaks my heart. I didn’t vote for Bush because I thought going to war with Iraq was a good idea, but I figured if it happened, it would be similar to the Gulf War – short and easy. We’d walk in, find Hussein, put a U.S.-approved Iraqi leader in power, CNN would send in a few correspondents and we’d be home by Christmas. I’m apparently as naïve as our president.

What we have done to that country, to its citizens and to an entire generation of children is unconscionable. We have drug a global war into their living rooms and dropped it in their laps. A war that has no front lines but instead is fought in every corner market and every neighborhood school. A war that has brought such ruin that most do not have such basic necessities as water and electricity. A war that not one single Iraqi citizen instigated. A war that has such widespread violence that even The Red Cross cannot manage to have a presence. We are responsible for this. I am responsible.

Anyone who knows me also knows that beyond my views of personal responsibility I am also a participant and promoter of helping those that cannot help themselves. Charity, which to me means the responsibility we have to help one another, is a theme, a moral code I strive to teach my children from a very early age. I hope as they grow up they will come to understand that the two things that make a successful life are taking care of yourself and taking care of others. And that is what I am asking of you today.

Whether you voted for our president or your foresight was better than mine, we as a country have a responsibility to help those that we have harmed. Please read about the work the Iraqi Red Crescent is doing across their country and more importantly what needs are still waiting to be met.

"Today and for the last three years, the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization has been the primary humanitarian provider on the ground in Iraq. The employees and volunteers work under severe conditions and safety is never guaranteed. Global relief agencies like the United Nations and the International Federation of the Red Cross/Crescent have not been able to sustain a notable operational presence inside Iraq. It is up to the Iraqi Red Crescent along with its offices in Jordan, Syria, and Iran to bring to bear the technical capability, and financial support to ensure a rapid and successful response to the present humanitarian crisis facing the Iraqi people." - Iraqi Red Crescent website

Click here to help.

Article on CNN.