(PHOTO: VICKIE FLORES/EPA)

The British Army veteran raising money and celebrating his 100th birthday

Captain Tom Moore of the UK wanted to contribute in this time of need due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic one lap at a time. Moore wanted to celebrate his 100th birthday (April 30) early, vowing to walk 100 laps in his garden to raise money to give back and thank the U.K.’s National Health Care Service (NHS) according to his JustGiving fundraising page.

Using his walker to assist him during his mission, Moore completed his goal two weeks early and the last lap was documented by BBC One’s morning news show, Breakfast, giving him more exposure and helping him gain more support in his mission. As of the last lap made Thursday, his fundraiser page raised over £15.4 million (approximately $19 million) to benefit NHS workers.

ICYMI: #CaptainTomMoore completed his 100 laps before his 100th birthday live on #BBCBreakfast!
He's raised millions for the #NHS
Well done @captaintommoore from everyone at the @BBC pic.twitter.com/TlvZtKknwH

— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) April 16, 2020

Moore wanted to give back and started his JustGiving page on April 9 committing to walk 10 laps per day with a distance of approximately 82 ft. (25 meters). Within the first 24 hours of launching his JustGiving page, he hit his initial target goal of £1,000 (approximately $1,245) and his family also raised an additional £100,000 (approximately $124,521).

After raising over £100,000 they kept going and got more donations in the next 24 hours for a total of £250,000 ($311,303). As the days went by Moore and his family kept working to get more donations and Moore kept his promise walking more laps.

On April 12, the fundraising page was at £500,000 (approximately $622,607) in donations and shattered their goal of over a million pounds in donations two days later. Moore didn’t want to stop and vowed to keep going to raise money and awareness. This hero knows the meaning of the say, “Every journey of a thousand miles beings with a single step.”