Google partly sponsors man using its Maps to hike 5000 miles for charity

"The US Embassy in Hong Kong told several Googlers about Winston's cause," according to a Google spokesperson. "Winston himself also approached Google to tell us about his use of Google Maps on his quest."

Fiore's Smile Trek project is aimed at raising money and awareness for the International Children's Surgical Foundation (ICSF) and Dr Geoff Williams; the ICSF and Williams provide free facial-reconstructive surgery for children with cleft lips and palates in developing countries. 

While Google says it is not officially sponsoring Smile Trek, the organisation has pledged to match donations contributed by individual Googlers, which totaled US$2,815. Google also published a blog post on its official blog to commemorate Fiore’s cause on the final day of his hike, November 20. And in order to help raise publicity for Fiore's cause, Google also commissioned Singapore-based production company Arcade to create a 90-second film of his journey (embedded above). 

Arcade caught up with Fiore’s journey in Palawan in the Philippines, shooting on location over three days from Puerto Princesa through to Sabang. The film has received more than 44,000 views and is hosted on Google's YouTube and Maps sites. 

CREDITS:

Creative Team: Matt Cullen, Gary Tranter, Hoon Pin Kek and Alex Noel
Producer: Pervyn Lim
Account Team: Sharon Koh, Chin-Han Yu
Directors: Matt Cullen and Gerald Stahlmann
Director of Photography: Gerald Stahlmann
Production House: The Momentum
Sound: Song Zu