The Spirit of Liberty Foundation, a 501c3 organization, has created America’s Liberty Run™, a historic and patriotic event celebrating the spirit of America under the Nation’s most important and beloved symbols, the American flag and the Liberty Bell.

Opportunity to Participate in America’s Liberty Run

America’s Liberty Run is an unprecedented event traveling more than 5,100 miles across the United States.  The Liberty Run will pass through cities and towns in 22 states, visiting 17 state capitals and journeying through communities with populations totaling more than 95 million Americans.

The Liberty Run will take the American flag and the Liberty Bell on a people-powered journey across the country. The flag will be ceremonially taken down from the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., with the support of U.S. Senators, and flown to Hawaii to begin its journey. The Liberty Run will begin at the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Oahu, HI, where Veterans will carry the American Flag. The Flag will then be flown to San Diego, California, and make its way up the coast to San Francisco. The Liberty Run will then cross the Golden Gate Bridge. Its journey will end with a return to the U.S. Capitol Building, approximately five weeks later. The flag will be carried by people of all ages and followed by the Liberty Bell, in a specially designed vehicle.

The Whitechapel Foundry, the same company that cast the original Liberty Bell in 1752, will cast the Liberty Bell. This Bell will be prominently displayed during all phases of the tour to give all Americans, who witness the Liberty Run, the opportunity to see the Bell in person. In major U.S. markets, the Bell will be set up in a prominent location for the general public to take photographs, touch it and ring in liberty. 

Every American is encouraged to participate in one or more of the following ways:

Participants and contributors will have their names listed on the Liberty Run website.
Additionally, a number of notable Americans will participate as Flag Carriers in the Liberty Run, including:

Frank Woodruff Buckles, the oldest remaining World War I Veteran, at 106 years old, has agreed to take part in the Closing Ceremony, in Washington, D.C., as a very special Flag Carrier.

A special emphasis will be placed on school children from six to 18 years old, as well as high school and college athletes.

Citizens who participate in the Liberty Run will be given special certificates to acknowledge their participation in this historic event listing the date and location where they participated.

Runners and Flag Carriers will wear official Liberty Run T-shirts printed with “Proud American, America’s Liberty Run” and an image of the stars and stripes, as well as carry American flags.

Although the Liberty Run does not cover all states and territories, each state will be invited to participate by providing one or more runners to join the Liberty Run at locations across America. They will also be asked to provide a state/territory flag and runner during the final leg of the Liberty Run. The last several miles will take runners down the National Mall to the U.S. Capitol Building, passing by the Jefferson, Lincoln, Vietnam, Washington and World War II Monuments and Memorials. The pageantry of people from all walks of life participating in the Liberty Run will be the ultimate statement of America’s great diversity, signifying that we are one people under the American flag.

In low-population areas along the route, such as stretches in Nevada and Utah, alternative people-powered transportation methods, i.e. biking, equestrian, kayaking, rowing and swimming, will be used in order to maximize the time available in each major metropolitan city.

Our goal is to have one million Americans pledge at least one penny for every mile America’s Liberty Run travels during its journey across the country. These monies would be directly deposited into a secure trust at a national financial center for equal distribution to:

• The Fisher House providing lodging for families of injured members of the Armed Forces to be near their loved ones when they are in military hospitals
• The Veterans of Foreign War’s “Unmet Needs Fund” supplying critical financial aid to military families when members of the family are on active duty.

As a way of saying “thank you,” each individual who donates one penny for every mile the Liberty Run travels will have their name listed on the Run’s website as a “contributor.”

America’s Liberty Run Objectives

The Liberty Run objectives are to:

Auction to Benefit America’s Armed Forces

The Liberty Run flags will be auctioned through a combination of eBay and national and local media.  Specifically, the television and radio stations, who have one or more of their personalities, i.e. news anchors, sportscasters or weatherpersons, carrying the flag, can auction the flag through their own media outlet.  This creates a local competition between media and gives them the opportunity to participate further in the Liberty Run and to help make a difference.  The remaining flags will be available for the public to purchase online on specially designed eBay auction pages.

Other flags, including those carried by celebrities such as, Governors, Senators and Presidential Candidates will be auctioned off.

Additionally, memorabilia from the Liberty Run including the lead patriotic red, white and blue vehicle will be auctioned off. 

Proceeds from all of the items sold will go to the America’s Liberty Run Fund for equal distribution to the Fisher House Foundation and the Veterans of Foreign War’s “Unmet Needs Fund.”

Website

This webstie will display the Liberty Run route as well as expected arrival times at major points of interest. For each day the Liberty Run is in progress, this website will be continuously updated to list the names of all Flag Carriers sequentially, based on order of participation along with the city and state in which they carried the Flag. 

This list will be collected and published in a book, which is sure to be an instant hit among the Flag Carriers and their families.  This website will attract a great deal of traffic as people will want to track the progress of the Liberty Run. Visitors will be able to see photos from different parts of the country, view the media coverage, as well as find out when the Liberty Run is expected to pass through their city or town.

This website will also feature a live webcam broadcast of the Liberty Run so visitors to the site may view 24-hour coverage of the Liberty Run and coinciding celebrations as it crosses America.

Spirit of Liberty Foundation

The Liberty Run is being organized by the Spirit of Liberty Foundation, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, whose original mission statement was to raise funds and to assist in the restoration and maintenance of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Today, now that the restoration is complete, and as a result of the horrific 9/11 disaster, the Foundation’s mission is to share the meaning and symbolism of “Liberty” and “Freedom” with Americans in an effort to create high-profile, morale boosting programs to reinforce the meaning of these values for all our citizens and the world.

M2000 to Develop Sponsorship and Marketing for America’s Liberty Run

M2000 has been retained by the Spirit of Liberty Foundation to develop all sponsorship, marketing and media relationships for the Liberty Run.

M2000 has planned and produced some of America’s greatest events, including the White House events for all eight years President Reagan was in office, as well as inaugurations and presidential conventions for Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush (41) and Clinton. M2000 has also organized high-profile events for Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., Yang Jiechi, and the Chinese Embassy celebration of the Beijing Olympics in Washington, D.C. for the 2008 Olympic Games.   

Enviro-Sports to Coordinate America’s Liberty Run

Enviro-Sports Productions, Inc., a San Francisco based company with more than 20 years of experience producing large-scale outdoor events, working with M2000, will organize and coordinate the core group of triathletes. Enviro-Sports is best know for producing “Escape from the Rock,” a triathlon now in its 26th year, and “Liberty to Liberty: America’s Memorial Triathlon,” in which participants swim, bike and run from the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. 

Creative Events International

Creative Events International, an award-winning company with more than 20 years experience in event production, will coordinate all day-to-day logistics for the entire Liberty Run. Creative Events International has been responsible for Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Paralympics, as well as on-ground logistics for American Frontiers, a 60-day, 30 people trek across public lands to educate citizens about the value of public lands to America’s culture and economy. Creative Events International was also involved in the execution of Santa’s Traveling Workshop.