In response to the horrific bombings last week at the Boston Marathon, a new website has been formed to sell T-shirts, with all proceeds going to two organizations that provide prosthetics to people in need.
Developed by award-winning screen printer Rick Roth of Mirror Image, Pawtucket, R.I., botsonwestandtogether.org is a labor of love to bring people from around the world together.
“Boston is my town,” Roth says. “When [people] die in an act of premeditated violence, who cannot be full of grief? What is truly amazing is the outpouring of support not just from around the country, but around the world. Some of my friends in far-away places were the first to reach out, including a Chechen friend, an NPR reporter from Kabul and people from all over the planet. [People have] sent support to me, my friends and my neighbors.
“Fundamentally, we are all good and we need to stand together,” Roth adds. “I wanted to do something good, as do many of my friends in the garment business.”
Partnering with Cleveland-based Jakprints and other industry donors, the website offers T-shirts that feature the phrase, “Boston We Stand Together” in English, Arabic and Chinese to symbolize the many languages of the marathon’s runners and spectators from around the world. The languages fade away to give an implication that people of all languages stand together, Roth says.
“There is a deliberate connotation of ‘We Stand Together,’ meaning we stand on legs that (in the future) for those with horrific limb injuries, means victims might be standing on prosthetic legs but we stand tall and we stand together,” Roth adds.
The back print features 26.2, the length of a marathon, and a tiny shamrock, which is a traditional symbol of Boston’s rich Irish-American heritage. The Kelly green color of the shirt is another nod to Boston’s traditional Irish population.
The shirts are $25 each, with all proceeds to be split evenly between the Limbs for Life Foundation and the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation.
To order or for more information, visit bostonwestandtogether.org or facebook.com/bostonwestandtogethershirt. — M.D.
