A laid off hospitality worker in our area wants to raise awareness for people who have been financially impacted due to coronavirus closures.

So, Beau Guyott plans to walk from West Palm Beach to Tallahassee.

“My route is 417 miles, give or take, and 12-13 days,” he says.

Guyott was laid off from his job at The Ben Hotel about a month ago, as the pandemic caused stay-at-home orders, layoffs and furloughs.

“I’ve been in the hospitality industry since I was a teenager. It means a lot to me, and so do the people I work with,” he explains.

“We don’t know when it ends and that’s where the frustration lies,” adds Guyott.

That thought motivated him to make the trip to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) in Tallahassee.

Guyott plans to interview other unemployed Floridians along the way. He wants to share those stories with DEO officials. Additionally, he hopes to find a job opportunity within the department and to perhaps receive an apology.

“I think it’d be refreshing if someone said, ‘we messed up,’ or, ‘we’re not getting it done on the schedule we thought we’d get done on,” according to the West Palm Beach resident.

Hospitality workers along his route have already offered to house and feed him.

“With the closure of our industry, there’s a kinship there. People are already reaching out,” says Guyott.

He will be documenting his journey on Facebook, as well as on Instagram under the name “The Walk to Tallahassee.”