IN 1993 THE WORLD SEEMED VERY dark indeed for Dana Cappiello and Kathy Scutchfield. Private financial investor and mother of one, Scutchfield, 47, had just lost her husband, Don, 49, to cancer, and Cappiello, a 36-year-old maternity-wear manufacturer, was mourning her best friend, Anthony Torrieri, dead of AIDS at 39. "I have two young boys," says Cappiello, "and I thought, 'I don't want you to die like this.' " Eager to do something positive in their grief, the Woodside, Calif., women decided to confront the AIDS crisis by selling bracelets bearing the slogan "Until There's a Cure." "It's a way people can get involved," says Cappiello. "You can buy a bracelet, show people you care and wear the bracelet until there's a cure.
It has worked like a charm: An estimated 108,000 have been sold. The bracelets, similar to those worn in memory of MIAs and POWs during the Vietnam War, come in silver plate sterling or gold and cost from $20 to $500. Profits go to their Until There's a Cure foundation, which distributes the money for AIDS care and research. The two even convinced retailers, including Macy's, Bloomingdale's and The Body Shop chain, to donate their profits from sales of the bracelets. "It's the first product I'm aware of that the retailers do not make a profit on," Cappiello says. "But people all around the country have really been supportive."
Including celebs like Robert Redford, Bette Midler and Julia Roberts. San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds says the bracelet reminds him of the starker realities beyond baseball. "Real people are dying," he says, "and they need real solutions." Jamie Lee Curtis agrees. "It's a simple and dramatic way of staying connected," she says, "and of reminding yourself that wearing a bracelet isn't the only thing to do."
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