Help Todd raise money

Todd’s Falmouth Fundraising Walk – 2025 Edition
A pebble in my shoe is nothing compared to the boulders they carry.

Last August, I set a personal challenge: walk 5 miles a day for the seven days leading up to the iconic Falmouth Road Race. That’s 35 miles in a week—5 x more than the race itself. I did it to raise money and awareness for SMILE Mass and ended up walking 47 miles total, raising over $3,000 in the process.

This year, arthritis in my right knee (thanks in part to years of throwing myself down flights of stairs in college for laughs—sorry, Mom!) means that kind of mileage isn’t possible. As my mother always warned me, "It’ll come back to haunt you." And she was right.

So I’m taking a different path this year—literally. I’ll walk the full 7-mile course from Woods Hole to Falmouth on August 17th with my SMILE Mass teammates, pushing through the relative pain for a cause far bigger than myself.

The truth is, any discomfort I feel during those seven miles is nothing compared to what the families we serve face every day.

At SMILE Mass, we work with children and adults with severe physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities—and the families who care for them. We help them live full, joyful lives by removing barriers to recreation, education, and vacation. Through Club SMILE Mass, we offer individualized programming that includes adapted gym and swim classes, music therapy, social groups, and job skills training. We also operate an adaptive equipment loaner program and a fully accessible beach house on Cape Cod—because everyone deserves the chance to make happy, healthy memories.

Years ago, when I co-wrote One Letter at a Time with the legendary Rick Hoyt, we shared a chapter titled “Pebble in My Shoe.” It described how many of us complain about the minor discomfort of something as small as a pebble, while individuals with disabilities carry metaphorical boulders on their shoulders every single day. That chapter, and that truth, stick with me.

So, I walk this year not just for the families we serve, but in honor of their strength, perseverance, and dignity. They are the ones carrying the true weight—I'm just carrying a pebble.

If you’re able to donate, cheer me on, or even share this message, I would be grateful. Every dollar makes a difference. Every step brings us closer to a more inclusive and joyful world.

Let’s walk together—one step at a time.

—Todd Civin
 Proud member of Team SMILE Mass
www.smilemass.org

todd@smilemass.org