Saturday, February 3, 2007

Changing The World: An Update to Caps to the Capital

This morning I awoke early -- excited that Connecticut has seen it's first major snow accumulation (we got about 4"), and excited that I would soon be on my way to the Save the Children World headquarters, located in Westport.  I was going to attend their event to help celebrate the next step of the Caps to the Capital and, in their words, allow them to say a great big thank you to everyone in Connecticut who participated and volunteered with this fantastic project.

Upon entering their building this morning, the first sight to greet my eyes was the large room filled with some of the thousands upon thousands of crocheted and knitted hats, 282,000 of them!  These tiny and beautiful hats will help babies in Malawi and Bangladesh; two countries, says Save the Children, suffering a "high rate of newborn deaths in each country each year."

In the lobby, after registering and hooking up with
other members from the HHCC (who helped the launch of this project over three months ago), we were then welcomed to coffee and donuts supplied by Dunkin' Donuts, and to look at the scrapbooks and displays they created that helped tell the story of crocheters and knitters coming together; absolutely amazing!

Later, with radio station 96.7thecoast mc'ing the event, we sat down to a presentation starting with Sharon, an employee at Save the Children who confessed she's not a crocheter or a knitter, but, in her own words, "...helped by licking stamps and sorting hats."  

Next was Carolyn Miles, the COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Save the Children who said within hours of the
2005 State of the Mother's Report coming out, their phones started ringing with people wanting to get involved. So they partnered with the Warm Up America foundation and "Caps to the Capital" was soon under way. 

Some Numbers:
Of the 282,000 hats, 17,109 came from 1,267 Connecticut residents. (I am one of those residents who donated 75 hats.) Of the 282,000 hats, 3,120 were from the
New York City Crochet Guild (10 of which were mine, bringing my total contribution to 85).

We then met Congressman
Christopher Shays and a local Brownie Troop who helped make a difference. We then met the person who started it all; a ten year old who not only sent in the first hat from Connecticut, but also for the entire campaign: Casey Lambert.  As she read the letter she wrote to the President, the lyrics to a song my own children often sing came to mind:

The lessons are learned
I will share with you
and if you share them too
the world will change
the world will grow
it's all because I know
 
Oh I know it starts with me
Yes I know, it starts with me
I know it starts with me
it starts with me
it starts with me
it starts with me
 
We're changing the world one person at a time
at a time
The very first person
is me
Yes I know it starts with me   
it starts with me
it starts with me
it starts with me!

Later we met Gloria Roache, and her very supportive husband, who upon going to the headquarters to drop off her contribution realized they needed help sorting hats -- so for three weeks, she and her husband did just that!  Lots of hats!  The presentation ended with a standing ovation for Eileen Burke, of Save the Children, who spearheaded the entire campaign.  She did a fantastic job!!!

Later I asked Eileen if they're still taking donations.  "At this time we're not.  We're focusing our attention right now on getting all the caps to those in need. Afterwards," she stated, "we'll figure out where to go from there. But if we do, Dee, I'll get in touch with you."

By saving one little baby's life with a simple cap, we really are changing the world.  One person at a time.  :) 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dee,
 I loved making those hats too! I think I made around 95 hats or so. I hope they do this again next year:) I love making them If not maybe they can post where we could send hats to if someone wanted to make some more:)
 Congrats to Connecticut what a great support your state is!
Sherri

Anonymous said...

Hi Dee,

Thanks for posting this and letting us know about the tremendous response to this effort.  You are right, we can do something one at a time!

Margaret H

Anonymous said...

Dee, that's amazing! The pictures are incredible. Good for you!