if you love babies and/or yarn (newer posts below)

Posting this here for my dear Gretchie, Nova and his family....please spread the word and repost at your will. And donate! Please donate!!

Please read all the way to the bottom. You could end up with some very nice yarn.

It's time to kick off the second annual fundraiser for the American Heart Association's Heart Walk, Team Nova. If you've been around here for a while, you've read about Nova before.

Sometime shortly after Lydia was born, I got a comment on here from Belinda to go check out Erin's blog and take her up on her offer. Erin had a new baby boy, Donovan (Nova), and had somehow happened across my pics of Lydia. She joked about betrothing them and, always happy to exert some control over my future grandchildren's genetics, I was game. One look at Nova and I was smitten. A beautiful boy from a big family. What more could I ask for?

But you see, Nova was born with a heart defect. Erin had already lost a newborn baby girl, Alexis, to a heart defect several years prior. They were told it was not genetic. They went on to have another baby girl. Then, during her next pregnancy they found out about Nova's heart. I can only imagine the fear that came with that news. But they knew ahead of time. They could prepare for repairing his heart. There was great hope that all would be well.

But after going through surgery, in the end it was an infection that took him. Sepsis shut down all of his organs except, ironically, his heart and he died in his mama's arms on April 6, 2006. He was just four months and four days old.

From the American Heart Association's website:

Each year approximately 35,000 babies are born with a heart defect.
About 8 in every 1000.
Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect.
Congenital heart defects are the number one cause of death from birth defects during the first year of life.
Nearly twice as many children die from congenital heart disease in the United Sates each year as die from all forms of childhood cancers combined.

As a mother, I find those numbers staggering. And Nova's sweet face is what I see each time I read them. Each of those 35,000 babies born with a heart defect each year is wonderful and amazing, cherished by their families. In honor of Nova and his mother, my friend, Erin, I am holding this fundraiser.

Last year this fundraiser brought in $323. This year I am hoping to hit $500.* The Charlotte Heart Walk will take place on September 15. I will be holding drawings on the first of each month (starting May 1) until then -- five drawings in all. All of the prizes are not decided, yet, but I can tell you that Socks that Rock will be one of them. Other contenders, to be named at a later date, will be fabulous, as well. If anyone would like to contribute something for one of the drawings, I would love to hear from you.*

When I set this goal, in all honesty, I was afraid to aim higher. I have seen how generous the online knitting community is, but I didn't want to set the goal so high that in the end we wouldn't meet it. As I write this, less than a month in, we are nearing the $500 mark, so I am setting the goal higher. But do I dare I say I'd like to raise $1000? I'm saying it. Please help spread the word!

edited to add: I have already been contacted by Pippi of PippiKneeSocks, Michelle of The Sweet Sheep, Jacki at Cider Moon, Sheri at The Loopy Ewe and Sue of Harvest Moon Designs about donations of prizes. Thank you! Please see posts below for more specific information on the prizes.

For each $5 donated, your name will go into the drawing one time. It will stay in the drawing until it is drawn or the final drawing, whichever comes first. So you get lots of bang for your buck. I'll keep an ongoing list of contributors in the sidebar. Every penny raised will be sent to the American Heart Association's Heart Walk Charlotte, Team Nova. Follow the Paypal link at the top of the sidebar to contribute.

Please spread the word far and wide among your knitting and non-knitting friends. After all, if your non-knitting friend wins, they can gift it to you.

Thanks for reading and thanks for helping.If you'd like to read more about Nova's story, please go to Erin's blog, Nova's Heart.