December 3, 2001
Pastor's wife creates reminder of Sept. 11 victims & families
___By David Gibson
___Religion News Service
___ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (RNS)--Given the appeal of inspirational wristlets like the "WWJD" band, plus the steady growth of the multibillion-dollar Christian merchandising industry, it may have been inevitable that someone would market a prayer accessory to commemorate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
___And sure enough, a New Mexico pastor's wife has come up with a product that already looks to be a winner: The Mercy BAND. The acronym stands for "Bearing Another's Name Daily."
___Each simple silver wristband is embossed with the name of one of the thousands of victims of the attacks.
___The idea is that the band will remind the wearer to keep that victim's family in their prayers, an idea that already shows great appeal.
___Less than a month after going on sale, more than 20,000 of the wristlets have gone to customers across the country, and there are plans to sell at least 50,000 more through the Internet, Christian bookstore chains and Billy Graham's evangelistic network.
___The Mercy BAND is the brainchild of Lenya Heitzig, whose husband, Skip Heitzig, is pastor of Calvary Church of Albuquerque, a 12,000-member evangelical Christian congregation that is the largest church in the state.
___"We're really not trying to make money. We're trying to make mercy," said Heitzig, who sells the bands for $20 through a production, warehousing and distribution system--complete with website--she got up and running Oct. 23. Within 24 hours, she had sold 1,500 bands, and the number is doubling each week.
___Heitzig is donating bands to relatives of the victims, and they are already popping up around the region as word spreads.
___"When I heard about it, I was very, very touched," said Kathy Maher of Hamilton, N.J., whose husband, Daniel, died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. "I think it's a real comfort to the families."
___Heitzig has mailed Maher and her two sons bands with Daniel's name on them.
___According to Heitzig, Mercy BANDs have been shipped to all 50 states, as well as Canada and Europe. Each U.S. senator has one, courtesy of New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici. Churches are buying them in bulk and coming back for more.
___Heitzig's inspiration for the bands came as she was watching television coverage of the disaster and, like millions of others, feeling helpless. "I was saying, 'What can I do, Lord? Not just something nebulous.' I wanted it to be up close and personal."
___Then the idea came to her: A band like the POW memorial bracelets she wore in high school that also incorporates a religious message like the popular WWJD and FROG wristlets, which stand for "What Would Jesus Do?" and "Fully Rely On God."
___"What went through my mind is that 6,000 names is too many to wrap my brain around. But I could wrap my heart around one," she said during a telephone interview from the warehouse where she and a corps of volunteers ship out the bands.
___"I think people all over the United States want that connection because we're not on the East Coast."
___The bands cost about $17 to produce and ship. The extra $3 is a cushion, Heitzig said. And if there are any profits, she said they will be donated to small, targeted causes, such as a dead firefighter's fire company, or to rebuild a playground near the World Trade Center.
___If a customer wants to request a specific name for a band, it costs an extra $5.
___But Heitzig said more than 80 percent of the requests ask that the name be drawn at random from the list of victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. The list used is the Associated Press compilation of publicly confirmed names of dead and missing, which currently stands at 2,998. Officials estimate the final death toll will be about 3,880.
___Those who do make a specific request ask for one of a handful of names--Barbara Olson, the conservative commentator and wife of Solicitor General Ted Olson who died on the flight that crashed into the Pentagon, or Todd Beamer and Jeremy Glick, two New Jersey men who are believed to have tried to overtake the hijackers aboard United Flight 93 from Newark. The passenger revolt apparently forced the airliner to crash in Pennsylvania and likely avoided a wider massacre.
___Heitzig wears the name of Alfred Marchand, a flight attendant from New Mexico who was on United Flight 175 that crashed into one of the towers.
___"The idea of the BAND just fills me with more emotion than I can describe," said Marchand's widow, Becky. "The thought of people I don't even know and will never know wearing a band with Alfred's name on it, remembering him, praying for us, is tremendously comforting and reassuring."
___Editor's note: For more information about ordering Mercy BANDs, visit the Internet site www.mercyband.org.
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