Rowing for a Cause
I'd heard them say it, and I'd even seen their route on a map.
But it wasn't until I actually watched them row down the Hudson River that I really started to appreciate the magnitude of Tom and Jon's adventure.
They looked so tiny as I watched them row against the wooded shoreline of the Hudson River with so much water in front of them. It's a cool journey and the guys (Tom and Jon) seemed to be relishing in the adventure ahead.
When we met they'd had very few arguments and had just one patched hole in the hull to mark their encounter with a troublesome rock.
The idea of their journey isn't simply to explore the eastern seaboard though that, alone, would be interesting) but to give-back by volunteering at about a dozen Habitat for Humanity sites along the way.
They knew they wanted to do volunteer work and with so many people suffering right here at home in the United States they felt they didn't need to go overseas to help out families in need.
CBS Evening News producer Tony Maciulis first told me about this story and asked me to work with him on the project. Both of us enjoyed meeting the guys and welcomed the chance to work on a feel-good story.
In case you want to track their progress they're keeping a blog of their journey here.
Jon was planning to leave his buddy Tom so that he could return to classes and Tom was going to do some of the journey alone.
Check out how they're doing, and check out our piece tonight on the CBS Evening News.
--Seth
