Manchester, N.H.—One hundred and sixtyCarpet One Floor & Home members and staff attended the 2018 Tunnel to Towers (T2T) 5K in New York City, Sept. 30, hosted by the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Store owners and their staff traveled from across the country—even as far away as Honolulu, Hawaii—to join the team for this event. The team exceeded their goals and previous years of fundraising with a total team donation of $138,000 making them the top fundraising team at this year’s event.
Carpet One Floor & Home was introduced to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation five years ago and has since been installing the flooring in each “smart home” built by the organization. These homes are given to catastrophically injured veterans—many of them triple and quadruple amputees. The smart homes allow these courageous individuals to regain some of the independence they’ve lost due to their injuries.
As one can imagine, the technology and materials needed to build these custom homes can be quite expensive. Through donations like the ones provided by Carpet One Floor & Home and Mohawk, the Foundation is able to significantly decrease these costs. “We’ve devoted ourselves to doing anything we can to take some expenses off the table so we can get more homes done, more quickly,” said Theresa Fisher, senior vice president of visual merchandising and store design at Carpet One Floor & Home and also the leader of this initiative within the company.
In addition to supporting the Foundation’s home building projects throughout the year, Carpet One Floor & Home has brought together members and staff each year to participate in the T2T 5K. The NYC event honors Stephen Siller, a heroic firefighter who lost his life on September 11, and all service members who put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms. After completing her first T2T 5K, Fisher recalls “I knew this is what I would be doing on the last Sunday of September for the rest of my life.”
Also participating in the 5K were many of the injured service members who have had a smart home built for them or are waiting for their new home.
Carpet One Floor & Home plans to continue their support of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation through flooring installations and will continue to raise additional funds to support the organization in their efforts.
For more information, visit carpetone.com/our-bravest.