Posts Tagged ‘tellman knudson’

Barefoot or Barefaced?

Back in August 2009, Tellman Knudson sent out a press release announcing he would run barefoot from New York to Los Angeles to raise $100 million for homeless youth.

Today, a Vermont newspaper reports Knudson spent four months and $500,000 in road expenses to reach West Virginia, then returned to his Vermont home to “regroup.” Now he has to explain to the Internal Revenue Service how he’s collecting donations without being registered as a non-profit organization.

If Knudson’s charity seems a bit hinky, so does his Internet marketing business OvercomeEverything.com. The Rutland Herald lists some of Knudson’s consumer problems here.

Turns out his running mileage didn’t stand up to scrutiny either.

Off camera, however, Knudson wasn’t running his promised 26 miles a day. He didn’t hit that goal until Oct. 25, his Web site reports, then dropped to seven miles on Oct. 26, three miles on Oct. 27 and no miles on Oct. 28, when he took one of several multiday breaks because of problematic weather or persistent foot injuries.

Maybe this is all a misunderstanding and bad luck. Maybe Knudson really is a caring philanthropist. But I would suggest that if you want to give money to support homeless youth, donate to the organizations that provide them with direct services. And do your research, regardless.