West Virginia University student organizations hope a basketball signed by the Mountaineers will go a long way in saving lives.

The ball and a knitted gold-and-blue WVU blanket are being raffled off to support CARE , Save the Children and UNICEF partners with Rx for Child Survival, a national initiative to raise awareness about children’s health issues and give kids a fighting chance at life.

Worldwide, more than 10 million children under 5 die each year from preventable and treatable illnesses like diarrhea, measles and pneumonia, said Janine Dzuba, co-chair of the WVU Community Medicine Student Association.

Contributions will enable international humanitarian organizations to provide antibiotics to fight pneumonia, insecticide-treated netting to protect against mosquitoes, oral rehydration packets to help reduce diarrhea-related illness and deaths, vaccinations to fight measles and tetanus, and vitamin A and other micronutrients to help fight infection and prevent nutritional deficiencies.

The raffle will be Wednesday, March 8. Tickets are $1 or six for $5 and will be sold from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, March 3, and Monday-Wednesday, March 6-8, at The Book Exchange ( 342 Patteson Drive ) and Dunham’s Sports ( 5000 Greenbag Road ).

For more information, e-mail jdzuba@hsc.wvu.edu .

On the Net:www.pbs.org/rxforsurvival