BRACELETS HELP FIGHT AIDS : 2 `REGULAR PEOPLE' FORM MAJOR FUND.

Byline: Cynthia Hubert Scripps-McClatchy Western Service

As a youngster, Dana Cappiello wore a bracelet emblazoned with the name of a soldier who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

More than two decades later, when the enemy known as AIDS killed her best friend, she began to think about the symbolism and power of that simple piece of jewelry.

She talked about it casually one evening with Kathy Scutchfield, a friend she had met through their children's school.

``Wouldn't it be great,'' she said, ``if we could come up with a bracelet that would raise money and awareness about AIDS?''

Just like that, the seeds for a new foundation called Until There's a Cure were planted.

Three years later, the two Bay Area mothers and entrepreneurs have sold more than 100,000 of their bracelets and distributed nearly $750,000 to AIDS prevention and research programs. Retailers across the country carry the bracelets, and celebrities including Jamie Lee Curtis, Robert Redford and Bette Midler have bought and worn them.

The women, who volunteer their time to the foundation and make no money from it, have established partnerships with some of the nation's top AIDS researchers. They have brought their message to professional sports audiences, and Until There's a Cure funded a key report on youths and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, presented earlier this month by the White House Office on AIDS Policy.

``When we started this, we never dreamed how it would take off,'' Scutchfield said.

Their grass-roots story illustrates that ``regular people'' can and do make a difference, the women said.

Cappiello, 36, who designs and manufactures maternity clothes and sleep wear, and Scutchfield, 47, a private investor, were living comfortably in the Bay Area when AIDS began to make headlines in the early 1980s. They had yet to meet, and neither imagined that the disease, then mysterious and exotic, would have such a profound impact on their lives.

When Cappiello's best friend, Anthony Torrieri, died of complications from AIDS in 1992, ``it was the most devastating experience I had ever gone through,'' she said. At about the same time, Scutchfield was dealing with the recent death of her husband, Donald, from cancer. Both women wanted to do something that would make a lasting difference in the lives of others. The AIDS crisis offered that opportunity.

``I wore a POW bracelet when I was growing up in San Francisco,'' Cappiello said. ``I thought an AIDS bracelet might be a good idea.''

The two talked about the idea at an event both were attending in San Francisco in the spring of 1993.

Scutchfield mentioned that she had a friend in Florence, Italy, who designed jewelry and might be able to help. Several weeks after they first spoke about the concept, the women were looking at prototypes for a bracelet that they hoped to market to retailers.

The design that emerged is a simple but elegant cuff, about one quarter of an inch wide, with a raised image of the familiar ribbon that has come to represent AIDS awareness. It is available in silver plate at $20, sterling at $70, and 18-karat gold at $500.

Macy's was the first retailer in the country to agree to carry the bracelets, and it advanced the foundation $1 million to produce the first batch.

At first, the women packaged and marketed the bracelet out of Cappiello's home with the help of family members, including their young children. The foundation soon outgrew that arrangement, however.

Macy's sold 20,000 of the bracelets after they were showcased during the Passport Fashion Show in San Francisco in September 1993, and they were one of the company's best sellers during the Christmas season that year. Now the bracelets are sold at Bloomingdale's, The Body Shop and other national retailers throughout America. None of the companies earns any profit from sales of the cuffs.

In addition to bracelet sales, the women have spread their AIDS prevention message to tens of thousands of people through professional sports events. In 1994, the foundation teamed up with the San Francisco Giants baseball team to sponsor ``Until There's a Cure Day'' at the ballpark. It was the first time that a professional sports organization publicly addressed AIDS. The Giants hosted a similar event last season, as did the San Francisco 49ers.

Cappiello and Scutchfield now maintain a foundation office in San Mateo and have a staff of four people. Of more than $3 million raised through sales of the bracelets, $732,000 has been distributed to charity, according to the foundation's financial statements. The rest has gone toward manufacturing, shipping and administrative costs.

Foundation grants have ranged from $113,000 to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to more modest ones for projects such as AIDS Walks in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. The foundation has also committed $100,000 to establish an International Vaccine Initiative that will monitor research programs on AIDS vaccines and publish information about the efforts, the women said.

Until There's a Cure distributes most of its educational and support grants through the National AIDS Fund, which seeks matching dollars, they said.

The organization is about to gain a higher profile with a major national public service advertising campaign that will feature celebrities from the worlds of entertainment, sports, fashion and the arts.

The short-term goal is to sell a million bracelets during the next year, Cappiello and Scutchfield said. The long-term goal is to put themselves out of business. ``We won't be happy until there is a vaccine, and then there won't be a need for us to do this anymore,'' said Scutchfield.

For more information about the bracelets or how to obtain them, call [phone].