Group Is Filling the Need For a New Pair of Shoes

Tag : shoes

"I'd say, 'Man, that dude's crazy,' " said Horne, a Ballou seniorrunning back. " 'What's he doing with no shoes?' "
Ware will leave his shoes in the locker room while Horne will bewearing new cleats, speckled with Ballou's blue and yellow, justone of the more than 100 pairs donated to the team by Samaritan'sFeet, an international nonprofit that has given more than 750,000pairs of shoes to children worldwide. Ware is going shoeless bothas a show of gratitude to Samaritan's Feet and to draw attention tothe group's cause.
"Coach Moe may not have the money or the fame, but he has theplatform as a coach to teach future leaders," said Emmanuel "Manny"Ohonme, founder and chief executive of Samaritan's Feet. "From him,I hope people realize how the act of compassion can changesomeone's life."
Ohonme started Samaritan's Feet five years ago as an outlet toraise awareness of the more than 300 million children worldwide whodo not own shoes. The group estimates 10,000 children die annuallyfrom diseases contracted by walking barefoot in impoverishedcommunities that lack clean water and sewage treatment, much likethe one in Nigeria where Ohonme was born and raised.
When Ohonme was 9, a "good Samaritan" visiting fromWisconsin -- the inspiration for the nonprofit's name -- gave himhis first pair of shoes, which allowed him to play basketball.Seven years later, in 1989, Ohonme was recruited to play at theUniversity of North Dakota-Lake Region. He eventually earned hismaster's degree in applied economics.
Samaritan's Feet made its initial national splash last January,when Ron Hunter, the men's' basketball coach at IUPUI , coached a game barefoot, which helped bring in more than 100,000pairs of donated shoes. According to J Rollins, a board member ofSamaritan's Feet, who also coordinates the group's Northeast regionoffice from Washington, Ware will be the first to coach a highschool game barefoot.
"It's a no-brainer thing for me," said Ware, a 1991 Ballougraduate. "We've got kids who need the help, but we also need totell them there are kids who need even more than them. We've beentelling them how meaningful this game is and how fortunate we areto be the team they picked for this."
Shortly after Samaritan's Feet distributed more than 1,000 pairs ofshoes at Paramount Baptist Church in Southeast Washington lastApril, Rollins received a donation of football cleats. He thoughtabout the neighborhood surrounding Paramount , and with Ballou just a few blocks away, called the school andoffered the cleats to Ware.
"The challenges they faced are not so different from thechildren we deal with from all over the world," said Rollins,who also donated to Ballou's track team sneakers he received from Georgetown University over the summer after the school signed an endorsement deal with adifferent shoe company. "If I'm going to pick a neighborhoodin my town, this is going to be it."
Samaritan's Feet, though, is preparing for an even bigger event.With NASCAR serving as a chief sponsor, Ohonme will leave Lowe's Motor Speedway outside Charlotte on Oct. 11 and begin a 300-mile barefoot walkthat will end Oct. 26 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Fifteen cities,including Washington, have set up mini-walks during the finalweekend of Ohonme's trek with a goal of raising at least 200,000pairs of shoes.
"Nobody thought it was going to take off," Ohonme said, "but in thelast year, the walls have just come down."
It's already impacted one unassuming teenager in the District.
"Now that I know the reason," Horne said, "it makes me want to dosomething about it, like donate money or donate some shoes. Maybebox up some shoes that I'd throw away and give them to someoneelse."