David Smith of Skaff Carpet One Floor & Home in Flint, Michigan is passionate about running and that includes running marathons (26.2 miles). One of his favorites is the historic Boston Marathon which he has run six times. The iconic Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest, annual marathon and is run traditionally the 3rd Monday of April to celebrate Patriot’s Day which commemorates Paul Revere’s Ride on the 19th of April.
“When Boston was cancelled I realized on the first day that I should do something to combat the disruption,” David shared. “The next morning I decided to run the Virtual Boston and I knew in that moment it was the right thing for me, something positive in the face of a disappointment. But I also figured other people could see some hope in it too, maybe apply the same thinking in their days. The whole idea of taking back the phrase ‘social distance’ came to me on a run, and I decided to address a social issue with my ‘distance’.”
His thinking landed on the idea of running his own personal Virtual Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20th throughout his own community! Then he asked himself, how could this act help others who really needed assistance during this time of personal challenge? His answer was another passion of his—Carriage Town Ministries. Carriage Town is a shelter for homeless men, women and children, which is typical for cities the size of Flint, but they have developed a unique program that helps folks get off the street to a safe place.Then, when they are ready they provide them with a really challenging personal success plan to get them work, find them a place to live and connect them with a church network to create a safety net.
David then went to traditional as well as social media where he encouraged others to follow suit – to walk, run, ride a bike, either by themselves or at a safe distance with a few others at 10:00 AM, on Monday, April 20th for their own version of a virtual Boston Marathon (or any length) and perhaps help their own local charities.
Carpet One Floor & Home retailers along with Facebook friends and friends of friends throughout North America answered his call. Watch David's Video to see how his simple thought helped unite so many at the same moment while raising nearly $6,000 for his local homeless shelter.
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