People listen to Pope Francis during a Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Michael Perez)More Info
Visit www.shawfloors.com/popecarpet
When Pope Francis led nearly 200,000 people in Mass last week from an outdoor stage in Philadelphia, the Holy See stood on a special white-and-silver carpet made by Shaw Industries Group's facility in Dalton.
And now, cuts of the carpet are available to the public through a first-come, first-served giveaway, with the hopes that donations will benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Nashville.
"We wanted to extend the life of this special carpet," said Dani Brock, Shaw's director of retail marketing. "There was tremendous demand for the carpet Pope Benedict XVI walked on in 2008, and we wanted to create an opportunity for others to secure a meaningful keepsake from Pope Francis' visit."
Each piece of carpet will include a commemorative certificate with details of the pope's visit and verification of its authenticity.
The idea was presented to Shaw by Ted Resnick, co-owner of Flemington Department Store in Flemington, N.J. Resnick installs carpet for high-profile events and has worked the MTV Awards, the Tony Awards and the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center in New York City, among several others.
Resnick saw the demand for carpet associated with the pope following Pope Benedict's visit to Yonkers, N.Y., back in 2008. He provided carpet installation services during that visit and, when the pope's visit ended, he tore up the carpet with the intention of giving pieces away.
"I was just going to do it here and there," he said.
But then the press got wind of what Resnick was doing and featured him in local and national news.
And "people started calling me from all over the country," he said.
Resnick received "tear-jerking" letters from people requesting a piece of papal carpet, including a woman who found comfort in a piece of the carpet after her husband died.
And another woman who wrote saying her brother died with a smile on his face because she was able to give him a piece of the papal visit rug.
"Listen, it's so important for so many people," Resnick said.
He had received nearly 5,000 emails requesting pieces of the Philadelphia papal visit carpet earlier this week, before Shaw's giveaway website even launched.
"It's crazy," Resnick said. "As soon as the event was over this year, I went right up on the stage and I was basically protecting the carpet everybody wanted to take some home. I said, 'No, it's all staying here.'"
Shaw coupled the carpet giveaway with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and hopes to harness interest in order to raise money for the no-charge Tennessee care center.
"St. Jude Children's Hospital is very close to Shaw's heart," said Todd Callaway, director of digital content at Shaw.
"We have been a St. Jude corporate partner since 2011, and though a donation is not required, we're hoping this might benefit the organization," he added.
Carpet pieces available for request are 6-inch-by-6-inch in size. Quantities are limited and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
To request a swatch of the carpet, visit www.shawfloors.com/popecarpet.
Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480.