Knitters -- ages 9 to 90 -- gathered Thursday at the Cary Senior Center to create purple caps for North Carolina newborns. And several moms and their newborns were on-hand to model the caps and thank the volunteers for their efforts. Click here to see photos from the event.

These knitters are part of an amazing array of volunteers across the country who have united to help raise awareness of a shaken baby syndrome prevention program called the Period of PURPLE Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina. Thousands of North Carolina newborns will receive the hand-knitted caps the week of April 11 as part of Child Abuse Prevention month. 

Volunteer knitters from as far away as Alaska and Arizona learned about the project through a viral social media campaign that included website posts, blogs, and tweets, creating a groundswell of support for the PURPLE program.

Marion Sharkany, a knitter who organized a host of other volunteers, remarked, “We all share a common thread: caring souls and purple yarn! We are thrilled to ‘unite for newborns’ and participate in the PURPLE Newborn Baby Cap Project. We deeply thank the 5,000 nurses at 86 birthing hospitals across the state for all they do every day to educate parents about the Period of PURPLE Crying and to save lives. They are the real heroes here!”

The program educates parents and other caregivers about a typical stage in early infancy that is frequently misunderstood. Frustration often accompanies normal increased early infant crying, which is a key trigger to shaking. The Period of PURPLE Crying also promotes infant/parent bonding, and other crucial parenting skills.

The PURPLE program includes individual, in-hospital parent education and research-tested take-home tools; a PURPLE DVD and booklet to reinforce key messages so that parents understand this normal crying period in every infant’s life and how to cope with it.

By the end of 2012, 86 hospitals and birthing centers across NC will have taught the parents of more than a half-million newborns about the Period of PURPLE Crying. The project is a collaborative effort of the National Center