This Fall and Winter while you’re keeping warm by the fire, pick up your knitting needles and crochet hooks to help save the lives of nearly 4 million newborn babies in the developing world.

Warm Up America! and Save the Children have joined together in a grassroots initiative for “craftivists” that will provide knitted and crocheted caps to help protect infants in the critical first month of their lives. Caps for Good will run November 2010 through February 2011.

Caps for Good asks knitters and crocheters to make caps and raise funds to help local health workers deliver caps as part of a basic package of newborn care. The caps, along with advice on newborn care, will be distributed to pregnant women and new moms and their babies in Save the Children’s programs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

According to Mary Beth Powers, campaign chief for Save the Children’s Newborn and Child Survival campaign, “For $10 health workers can train a mom to use kangaroo care, which includes wrapping a newborn skin-to-skin and providing a cap to keep the baby warm. This package is proven to cut death rates in half for babies born with low birth weights.”

Click here for more information on how to participate in Caps for Good.

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children in need in the United States and around the world. Save the Children is made up of 29 national organizations working together to create immediate and lasting change for children in over 120 countries. Caps for Good is part of Save the Children’s Newborn and Child Survival Campaign. For more information, visit www.goodgoes.org.

Warm Up America! Foundation is committed to motivating, training, and coordinating volunteers to knit and crochet clothing and afghans for people in need. For more information, visit www.craftyarncouncil.com/warmup.html.

Clover is a proud supporter of Warm Up America! and its campaigns. We encourage you to contribute to Caps for Good.