Had to share this.  Who doesn’t love Mr. Rogers?  And also sweaters.  It’s an easy — and free! — way to support public media, something we all love.  Hey, without PBS we here in the USA wouldn’t have enjoyed Dr. Who, Benny Hill, and Red Dwarf ’til BBCA hit our shores.  That’s decades of Who-less TV y’all.  There would have been no Mr. Rogers, no Big Bird, and no Easy Reader from the Electric Company (and fewer opportunities to listen to Morgan Freeman is a horrible idea to contemplate.)  Not to mention our love affairs with Downton Abbey and Call the Midwife.

So snap yourself a sweater selfie, and upload that puppy.  Do it for your favorite Neighbor. Read on for the full deets!

Put on your sweater for public media.

Dear Advocate,

Almost 45 years ago, our loyal neighbor, Mister Rogers, testified before the U.S. Senate to protect public media. His testimony was as historic as he was influential.

After the Administration proposed public media funding cuts, Fred Rogers went before a Senate Subcommittee to ask, with his Mister Rogers touch, to restore full funding. His remarks were so powerful that he gave a self-described “tough guy” Senator “goosebumps.” Not only was all public media funding restored, it helped increase future funding.

In honor of Fred Rogers’ lifelong support of public media, we’re honoring him on Thursday, May 1 – the day he testified before Congress! We hope you’ll join us and encourage your neighbors to participate, too.

All you have to do is grab a Fred Rogers’ style sweater or cardigan out of your closet. Snap a photo of yourself wearing the cardigan. Then, click here to upload your snappy new picture, fill out the required fields and tell us why public media matters to you today.

We’re going to select the top entries to feature on our blog, Facebook and Twitter on Thursday, May 1.

So get snapping, and tell us why public media matters to you today.

From our neighborhood to yours,

Stacey Karp and Colleen Vivori Protect My Public Media