The COVID era has been a time of trauma and pain, but also of triumph and positivity. Marissa Rozenfeld, a 24-year-old graphic designer from West Caldwell, channeled her grief into generosity by selling sweatshirts embroidered with the name of one of her father’s favorite songs. She recently lost her father to COVID-19 complications and is donating a portion of the proceeds to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. Using the creativity that has been a part of her since she was a child, Marissa has created a positive outlet to raise awareness, and money, to help those who have lost a loved one to the coronavirus.
In October 2020, Marissa’s family was hit hard when both her father, Steve, and grandfather, Norman, passed away from COVID-19 complications within three weeks of each other. Steve Rozenfeld grew up in Russia and, at around 18, immigrated to the U.S., where he attended yeshiva and had his first exposure to Judaism and Orthodox traditions, since no religion had been tolerated in Russia. He was full of energy and loved music, a passion he shared with Marissa, and the two bonded over playing music together and jamming to the radio in the car. Marissa says that much of her creativity, which she has always used as an outlet, was inherited from her father’s passion for music and her grandfather’s love of photography.
While going through her father’s old cassette tapes, the first one Marissa pulled out was a Genesis album, and the title of the last song, “It’s Gonna Get Better,” was written on the cassette in her father’s handwriting. This was a song that both Marissa and Steve loved, and Marissa realized immediately that this slogan was more than just a song title; it was a deeply moving statement that many people needed to hear in these trying times. Marissa decided to combine her newly acquired love of tie dye and her desire to channel her creativity into a positive outlet to honor her father and grandfather, so she went out and purchased an embroidery machine. With it, she began making tie-dyed sweatshirts with the slogan “It’s Gonna Get Better” embroidered on them in her father’s handwriting and selling them to raise awareness and donate money to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
Marissa tie dyes all the sweatshirts herself, using the reverse tie dye bleach method which she perfected through much trial and error, and either ships or hand-delivers all the orders herself as well, depending on the location of the buyer. Since her charitable initiative has already expanded more than she had ever imagined, Marissa has enlisted the help of a local embroidery shop to help with embroidering the slogan on the front and the small yellow heart on the bottom of the left sleeve. This heart is the universal symbol for anyone who has lost a loved one to COVID and it is embroidered on the sleeve—left, because that is the side of a person’s actual heart—to symbolize that we are all in this together.
When searching for a charity to donate part of her proceeds to, Marissa was initially looking for an organization whose goal was to help families who had lost their main source of income through the loss of a loved one to COVID-19. As it turned out, such an organization does not currently exist, so Marissa decided to donate to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, which helps provide information on the virus, ensures patients get the care they need, and funds further research into treatments and vaccines for the coronavirus. Each sweatshirt comes with a thank you card and a note about where the proceeds are going, including a QR code to the organization’s website.
Though Marissa is thrilled with how large her new initiative has grown already, she would love for it to expand even more. She wants to move into making not only sweatshirts, but also masks, t-shirts and beanies, for “It’s Gonna Get Better” to grow into a movement, not just a song lyric. One day, Marissa hopes to be able to start her own nonprofit, the kind that she couldn’t find when looking for a place to donate to, an organization to help families who have lost their income with the loss of a loved one to COVID-19. Above all, though, Marissa is immensely grateful for all the love and support she has received for her initiative. To order a sweatshirt from Marissa and contribute to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/ItsGonnaGetBetter.
By Shira Kosowsky
