Stitch for a Cause Washington Wrap-Up

Today, Stitch for a Cause members returned to Louisville from Washington DC where they spent the past two days advocating for legislation to improve the lives of newborns around the world. The group included seventh grader Ayesha Singh, fifth graders Sanjana Rane, Divija Sharma, and Sonia Gadre, and KCD teachers Lisa Stringfellow and Marjorie Seely.

The group spoke to staff members of Senator Jim Bunning, Senator Mitch McConnell and Representative Ben Chandler and actually had an extended discussion with Representative John Yarmuth of Louisville.

Representative Yarmuth was very impressed by the students and agreed to sign-on as a co-sponsor for House Bill 1410, The Newborn, Child, and Mother Survival Act of 2009. The students shared their work on the Knit One, Save One campaign and about the tremendous community interest and support that has been generated by their effort to save newborn lives in developing countries. The KCD group was one of only four Advocacy Day teams to win the commitment of their member of Congress (out of 125 meetings on Wednesday).

The KCD students learned first hand about how our government works and had an opportunity to take part in that process by discussing an issue on which they have worked hard to make a difference. Below are a few more video journal segments of their DC experience.

Sanjana Rane and Sonia Gadre discuss their meeting with
Senator Mitch McConnell's staff.

Students discuss the results of their day on Capitol Hill



Final Thoughts on Advocacy Day

Stitch for a Cause in Washington, DC

KCD teacher Marjorie Seely, Sonia Gadre (5th grade), Sanjana Rane (5th grade), Ayesha Singh (7th grade), Divija Sharma (5th grade), and KCD teacher Lisa Stringfellow in front of the White House. Ayesha is holding a scrapbook of pictures and letters from hundreds of knitters that will be presented to President Obama.

We have had an excellent visit in Washington so far. We made it to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on time for our rendezvous with Save the Children organizers and took pictures in front of the White House. A camera crew from WHAS11 met with the our students and interviewed them about their participation in the Knit One, Save One campaign.

We were invited to a White House briefing and listened to top-level Obama administration officials for domestic and international policy talk about the commitment that has been made to maternal and child health initiatives and praise us all for our passionate and willingness to voice our support for this issue.

Waiting at Louisville International Airport - Introduction to Advocacy Day

White House Briefing on Global Development Policy by Gail Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Relief Stabilization and Development

Later, at a reception for participants, KCD students were able to meet ABC News Political Commentator Cokie Roberts. Ms. Roberts presented two awards during the evening to Senator Susan Collins and Congresswoman Betty McCollum for their work on behalf of newborn and maternal health initatives.

Advocacy Day 2009

Stitch for a Cause is featured on Save the Children's website! Check out the feature on Ayesha here!

Several students and teachers from our school will be heading to Washington, DC on April 21st and 22nd for Save the Children's Advocacy Day 2009. We will be talking to legislators about the Knit One, Save One campaign and advocating for continued support of low-cost interventions to save newborn lives. It should be a very exciting and educational trip for our students!

We are currently fundraising for this trip and need help. If you would like to help us with our travel expenses, you can donate by clicking the following button. Any size donation is appreciated.

Stitch-In Update (Knit One, Save One event)

Our Stitch-In on December 13th was a very nice event. Thanks for everyone who came out and those that couldn't that have been sending in hats. Keep them coming! We plan to mail our collection the day after MLK Day (January 20th). If you can get them to KCD or Sophie's Fine Yarn Shoppe between now and then, that would be wonderful!

Several local television stations came out to cover the event and Rep. John Yarmuth very kindly came out to lend his support to the efforts of all the knitters. We are still counting hats, but as of that day we had 417 hats done. I have many more now and will post an updated count soon!

Knit One, Save One

One of the hats I made for the 2006 campaign that made it to Bangladesh.

We are off and knitting for the Knit One, Save One campaign this year for Save the Children. In 2006, we were able to send over 200 caps to the Caps to the Capital project and our goal this year is to reach 500!

Save the Children estimates over 4 million babies in developing countries die each year, with more than 1/2 during the first 24 hours of life, from PREVENTABLE causes. Hypothermia is one of the main causes and having a simple knit cap on their head is estimated to reduce the death rate by 60%.

Right now students in all three divisions at our school are busy working on this project. Mrs. Johnson's third grade class already has one hat finished and the middle schoolers are busy as well. Upper school students will begin working on that this week and will learn more about the reasons for the project during an upcoming X-Period.

On Saturday, December 13th from 10 am to 2 pm, Stitch for a Cause will host a "Stitch-In" to make hats for this project. This event is open to knitters and crocheters across the Louisville area. More details on this event will be forthcoming.

Also, check out the Save the Children website next week for video interview from kids around the country that are knitting hats for babies. Three KCD middle schoolers will be featured on the site. I will post the link as soon as it is available.