Foundation asks public to use Cash Gaudio’s lock screen on Sept. 30

The Live Like Cash Gaudio Foundation is marking the second anniversary of 19-year-old Cash Gaudio’s death by asking people to download the image from his phone lock screen and use it for the day. The campaign is tied to his faith, his story, and the foundation’s effort to turn remembrance into a public tribute.

Why it matters: - The Sept. 30 campaign turns a private detail from Cash Gaudio’s final moments into a shared act of remembrance. - The foundation is using the anniversary to draw attention to its scholarship work and to the values Cash Gaudio’s family says shaped his life. - The effort asks supporters to swap a personal phone background for an image centered on faith and grief.

What happened: - The Live Like Cash Gaudio Foundation asked the public to mark Sept. 30, the second anniversary of Cash Gaudio’s death, by downloading the lock screen image from his phone and setting it on their own phones for the day. - The image is a painting of Jesus Christ wearing the crown of thorns. - The image is available free at the Sept. 30 download page in sizes for current iPhone models, Android phones, older iPhones with a home button and iPad. - Cash Gaudio was shot and killed in his driveway on Sept. 30, 2024, at age 19. - In the minutes after he was shot, Cash Gaudio called his mother and asked her to call an ambulance. - The family learned what was on the phone only when Cash Gaudio’s belongings were returned the week before Christmas 2024. - His father and sister turned on the phone at the family dining room table and saw the crown of thorns image first.

The details: - Shannon Meyers, Cash Gaudio’s mother and president of the foundation, said Cash could have chosen any image for his phone. - Meyers said Cash chose the Cross and that the family wants others to see what he saw throughout the day. - The campaign asks participants to download the image, set it as the lock screen for Sept. 30, then post a screenshot to Instagram or Facebook, tag the foundation and use #LiveLikeCash. - The foundation said it plans to reshare every tagged post on Sept. 30. - The download page includes step-by-step instructions for iPhone and Android. - The foundation does not know who painted the image and said the work carries a partial signature. - The foundation is asking anyone who recognizes the artist to contact it so the work can be credited. - Micah Gaudio, Cash Gaudio’s father and co-founder of the foundation, said most people check their phones 100 to 300 times a day. - Micah Gaudio said the family would rather a thousand people see the Cross on Sept. 30 than a thousand people post a picture of Cash. - Micah Gaudio first described the discovery in a Facebook post on Dec. 22, 2024, and asked whether people would put the same image on their own phones. - The Sept. 30 effort is the first organized campaign built around that question.

Between the lines: - The campaign is part memorial, part fundraising brand-builder, and part public witness to the family’s faith. - The lock screen request gives the foundation a simple action that can spread through social media without a formal event. - The image choice shifts the focus away from Cash Gaudio alone and toward the religious message his family says guided him. - The campaign also helps the foundation extend the emotional reach of a story that was first shared privately and later online.

What’s next: - The foundation will reshare tagged posts on Sept. 30. - The next public event is the second annual Gears for Gaudio car and truck show on Saturday, Oct. 17, from noon to 6 p.m. at Blue Ridge Community Church, 2361 New London Road in Forest. - Details and tickets are available at the Gears for Gaudio event page. - The foundation said it has raised more than $250,000 since Cash Gaudio’s death and named 13 Live Like Cash Gaudio Scholars. - The foundation has set a goal of raising $1 million by the end of 2028.

The bottom line: - The foundation is asking supporters to turn one day on the calendar into a visible, phone-by-phone tribute to Cash Gaudio and the faith image he carried with him.