His feet that is. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will appear barefoot in his office tomorrow morning to support an effort to raise awareness and support for Samaritan’s Feet. The promotion for the charity was launched by WFNI-AM Indianapolis host Dan Dakich, former Indiana University basketball coach, and current IUPUI coach Ron Hunter, who will be barefoot for his team’s game on January 17th.
Dakich has been working on the air sans shoes and socks since before Christmas. He and Hunter have been lining up support from basketball coaches across the country, with a goal of getting 500 to coach barefoot on the 17th. By raising awareness of the charity, they hope to get one million pairs of shoes. Hunter coached a game barefoot last year and he, his assistant coach, and some of his players went to Peru to distribute shoes to impoverished children.
Emmanuel Ohonme, the founder of Samaritan’s Feet, received his first pair of tennis shoes from an American stranger as an impoverished nine-year-old boy in Nigeria and went on to receive a basketball scholarship at the University of North Dakota. Although he’s been a successful executive in the US, Ohonme has never forgotten that there are other children still living as he once did in Africa.
