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Dressing up for World Kindness Day: Babies at UCHealth hospitals get new togs in nod to Mr. Rogers

Red sweaters and blue booties were made by men’s charity knitting circle from Buena Vista Correctional Complex.
Longmont Leader Staff
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Christopher Cordero places a hand on his the head of his son Cayden Cordero at UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont. Cayden is wearing the special knitted red cardigan and tiny blue booties in honor of World Kindness Day. (Photo by Robert Allen / UCHealth)

Fred Rogers would be smiling.

In recognition of World Kindness Day, some of the youngest patients at UCHealth hospitals across northern Colorado — including Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont — will be bedecked in some new togs today. The red knitted sweaters and blue booties were inspired by the late Fred Rogers, better known as Mr. Rogers, the creator and host of the iconic children’s television show, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” that promoted community, friendship and kindness. 

The sweaters and booties — which harken back the cardigan and sneakers Rogers donned at the start of every episode of the show — were created by the Colorado Department of Corrections Charity Knitting Circle at the Buena Vista Correctional Complex. 

“Charity knitting circles in prisons give incarcerated individuals the opportunity to contribute to society and make the world a better place,” UCHealth stated in the release. 

The knitters in the group worked for six months to make 50 sweater and bootie sets for newborns at several of UCHealth’s northern Colorado hospitals, according to the release. In addition to Longs Peak, they will be distributed today at Greeley Hospital, Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland and Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins. 

“We are so touched by all that the men in this charity knitting circle did for families nearly 200 miles away,” Ashley Kasprzak, the development officer for UCHealth Northern Colorado Foundation and Longs Peak Hospital Foundation, stated in the release. “Now we’re hoping this inspires others out there to spread a little kindness in their own way as well.”

Cardigan and bootiesJPGThe Colorado Department of Corrections Charity Knitting Circle at the Buena Vista Correctional Complex spent six months making 50 tiny red cardigan sweater and baby blue bootie sets for newborns at UCHealth's northern Colorado hospitals to be distributed in honor of World Kindness Day on Nov. 13, 2020. The sweaters and booties were inspired by Fred Rogers, also known as Mr. Rogers from the children's television show. (Photo by Kelly Tracer / UCHealth)