When the pandemic started to negatively affect people’s livelihoods, Carter Doorley took notice and took action.
Determined to raise awareness, the 11-year-old gave himself quite the challenge: To surf for 100 days straight. But once that goal was met, he kept extending it. Now, with more than 600 days under his surfboard, he hopes to one day hit 1,000 consecutive days of surfing.
“If you look at Atlantic City, a lot of people have lost their jobs and were put on the streets,” Carter said. “So I want to try to help them and give back.”
When coming up with this plan, he aimed to raise $1 for every wave he caught. Five days into his journey, however, he was able to bring in $300!
“Made me feel awesome,”Carter said.
As he works toward reaching 1,000 days, his parents have helped him document his journey on Instagram. In addition to showing off some of his gnarly moves, they’ve also taken the time to bring awareness to special days like Giving Tuesday, a global initiative that encourages others to give their time and money to charitable causes.
They’ve also been able to document the obstacles this tough 11-year-old has come against, including winter storms that brought in over a foot of snow. Many of his followers thought this would bring an end to his streak, but he was happy to announce that not even a blizzard could stop him!
In the 600+ days that Carter has been surfing, he’s been able to donate thousands of dollars to local shelters and global non-profits. One of them is fittingly called Surf-Aid – they help supply clean drinking water to remote areas.
With less than 400 days left until he meets his latest goal, Carter is hopeful he’ll be able to raise even more money for good causes. But he also hopes that when others see what he’s doing, they’ll feel inspired to find their own ways to give back.
“It will show that there’s very, like, good people in the world still helping, giving back to their community too,”Carter said.
Don’t forget to share Carter’s story of perseverance and generosity with a friend.
Want to be happier in just 5 minutes a day? Sign up for Morning Smile and join over 455,000+ people who start each day with good news.