Mikey Wasnidge says he and his business partners were looking for a way to honour the face of P.E.I.’s fight against the global pandemic and raise money for a worthy cause at the same time.
So, the co-owners of the Nimrods’ restaurant in Charlottetown have created a T-shirt featuring the likeness of Dr. Heather Morrison, the province’s chief public health officer, posing as a superhero underneath the slogan, “What Would Dr. Morrison Do?’’, and will donate $10 from every sale to the United Way of P.E.I.
The slogan is a salute to Morrison’s daily advice and recommendations.
Wasnidge said they were looking for something they could do to help, and when a friend of his said something similar was happening in Alberta, they decided to give it a try here.
With the help of Charlottetown’s Golden Custom Clothing and Island design artist Jeff Alward, they came up with a drawing of Morrison that shows her in superhero pose with her lab coat flowing behind her like a cape.
“Leaders emerge from unlikely circumstances, and Heather’s leadership has become very apparent, just in her consistency, in her poise and in her compassion,’’ Wasnidge said. “The way she has dealt with this whole situation (is impressive) — with authority, intelligence and common sense. When you see her every day, there is just a certain amount of trust that she’s developed in the community. It’s rare to see that kind of universal trust develop so quickly for somebody.’’
Golden Custom Clothing jumped on board to help out, creating a web store for Nimrods as well as handling production, management, deliveries and distribution. Golden Custom Clothing charges $15 to make the T-shirt, Nimrods sells it for $25 and then turns around and donates $10 to the United Way of P.E.I.
No one from the Island charity could be reached for comment on Monday.
“I am flattered by the gesture and think this is another example of the generosity of Islanders and how so many people are looking to help others during this difficult time."
-Dr. Heather Morrison
AT A GLANCE
Following is some information about Nimrods and the T-shirt they’ve created:
- The Charlottetown restaurant is owned by Mikey Wasnidge, Nigel Haan and Jesse Clausheide.
- The T-shirts feature Dr. Heather Morrison in a superhero pose under the slogan "What Would Dr. Morrison Do?’’, a shoutout to her advice and recommendations during the pandemic.
- Morrison’s likeness was illustrated by P.E.I.’s Jeff Alward.
- T-shirts can be purchased for $25 for the next two weeks at nimrods.staygolden.ca.
- $10 from each sale goes to the United Way of P.E.I.
Wasnidge said they did reach out to Morrison to see if she would be OK with the idea. Needless to say, getting hold of the chief public health officer these days is no easy task.
“We did talk to somebody close to her who told her about it. (We were told) she thinks it’s a very kind gesture and did support it.’’
Morrison said she was taken by surprise at the request to be featured on a T-shirt.
“I am flattered by the gesture and think this is another example of the generosity of Islanders and how so many people are looking to help others during this difficult time,’’ Morrison told The Guardian in an email.
Wasnidge also had a bit of guidance in selecting a charity to receive the proceeds.
“We asked the person who knew Heather what organization she would support. There are so many deserving organizations on P.E.I. . . . they told us that she’s a big supporter of United Way (because) United Way helps other organizations across the province.’’
Wasnidge said the T-shirt will be on sale for the next two weeks at https://nimrods.staygolden.ca/.
As of Monday, 75 T-shirts had already been pre-sold.
