Photography by Steve Buchanan
It was November of 2020 and the early morning hours of John Schirrippa’s daughter’s second birthday…and the pandemic was roaring. Schirrippa kept wracking his brain about finding some way he could help support the sick as well as the front-line hospital workers, whom he calls heroes.
“I found myself thinking two things,” he recalls. “One was, there has to be a symbol to draw people together during the pandemic. The second thing was that it could be more than a symbol. Maybe it could be something tangible that we can sell, and proceeds can go to frontline workers.”
He couldn’t fall to sleep that night. And from there it was, in his words, “Full steam ahead on figuring out how we could make this a legitimate thing.”
So, the 40-year-old Schirrippa, an Arnold resident, launched a nonprofit foundation called Unity Bands two years ago. Since then, it has raised about $15,000 selling a customized, white, silicone wristband with the foundation’s Unity logo printed on it, which is the infinity symbol. It sells for three dollars and the organization has sold 3,000 of them with additional proceeds coming from individual donations and fundraisers. T-shirts, tote bags, and other merchandise featuring the logo are also available on the nonprofit’s website. The funds raised have gone to Covid-19 frontline workers, response, and research.
“It is about how we can show our gratitude,” he explains, “and how we can support these heroes, whether it’s through financial support, or just showing them that the community cares.”
The first donations went to the University of Maryland Medical Center and its Covid-19 fund. He and his foundation wanted to support the doctors, nurses, and other workers among other things. Irene Amoros, Executive Director of Annual Giving at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, admires Schirrippa’s efforts. The school received funds for medical equipment like freezers that hold virus samples.
“In the middle of everybody going every which way during the pandemic, he brought it down to a very basic level, which is ‘we need to help people,’” she says. “And he did. He brought together a team of equally passionate and generous people to help in those efforts. It was inspiring.”
Among those people Amoros is referring to are Unity Bands’ Vice President Karan Wadhawan, Secretary Steven Shen, and Treasurer Dave Rattiner.
Donations to the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, in Glen Burnie, also meant a lot to the Unity Band’s officials. That’s where they’ve given the most money over the past two years, according to Schirrippa. It paid for Covid-19 testing kits and educational materials for patients. The GBMC Foundation allowed Schirrippa and his volunteers to sell Unity Bands at the foundation’s biggest annual fundraisers: a crab feast and a golf tournament.
“We’re thrilled to have partnered with them to help their frontline workers,” Schirrippa says. “We donated to their Covid-19 fund. It goes toward establishing a resilience center for their frontline workers, so they have a place to unwind from their long shifts. Things get very stressful. We also got them catered meals, N-95 masks, Covid-19 testing kits for at-risk patients, and education materials.”
Doris Williams, a realtor with Long and Foster in Annapolis is a big booster of Schirrippa and his nonprofit. Williams bought 1,000 Unity Bands and a section of tickets to a home game in June of last year to the Bowie Baysox, a double-AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Doctors, nurses, and policemen attended the game. “All of a sudden, 1,000 people were there wearing our wristbands,” Schirrippa says. “It was unbelievable.”
Williams says the experience was memorable. “We had a section of heroes,” Williams recalls. “They didn’t get a lot of time off with Covid. A lot of people with Covid didn’t understand how much our local heroes had to pull together to help the community.”
Schirrippa shared these concerns and is thrilled that he and Unity Bands have made a difference.
Learn more about Unity Bands at unitybands.org.
Do you have a volunteer to nominate? Send What's Up? an email to editor@whatsupmag.com.
