Today in inspiring and somewhat nerdy stories: meet Winston Fiore, a man who, using only Google Maps and apparently bottomless reserves of badass, walked 5000 miles to raise money for charity.
Fiore is a former Marine who served in Afghanistan and Senegal. Seeing the poverty of the area, Fiore decided to take a year off and raise money in a walkathon that makes the guy bragging about the marathon he ran look like the wimp he is. Fiore chose the International Children’s Surgical Foundation for his fundraiser, landed in Singapore, fired up Google Maps, and started walking:
Equipped with an Android phone running Maps, U.S. Marine Sgt. Winston Fiore set out on a journey to raise money and awareness for the International Children’s Surgical Foundation, a charity that provides free facial-reconstructive surgery for children with cleft palates in developing countries.
Fiore walked across Brunei, China, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam in a mission he called “Smile Trek,” which began last October and ended Monday. Along with his Android, Biore also brought “sturdy boots” and “a 20-pound vest carrying essentials,” according to a Google blog post that details his expedition.
OK, so this sounds like a Google ad — but nonetheless, it’s impressive that Fiore walked 5,000 miles, raised nearly $70,000 for charity, and did it with the stuff we have in our pockets. And Marine training, but come on, we’re trying to have an inspirational moment here.
(Pic via Fiore’s Twitter)