IUPUI’s Basketball Team Gets Off On The Right Foot

As I was scanning over the latest goings on in the world of college basketball, I ran across this tidbit that made me feel like everything was good with the world today.

According to the Associated Press, the IUPUI men’s basketball team and Coach Ron Hunter are going to Nigeria to deliver nearly 200,000 donated pairs of shoes to needy children.

Some of you may remember Hunter going barefoot during a game against Oakland to raise awareness and donations, and man did it work. Hunter’s goal was to raise 40,000 pairs of shoes in honor of the 40th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s death. Fans responded and Hunter raised 110,000 pairs before the game, including shoes donated by fans on the Samaritan Feet’s website.

Hunter’s barefoot gesture was such a big hit that TNT’s Inside the NBA announcers Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith went barefoot during its Mother’s Day telecast before the San Antonio/New Orleans Hornets game.

Many of the shoes have already been delivered to Nigeria as well as Liberia, the Darfur region of Sudan, Washington D.C. and Virginia. Hunter and his team will head to Nigeria to not only deliver shoes. They will visit schools, orphanages, hospitals, as well as holding basketball clinics.

Hunter told the Associated Press that he wants coaches in every sport across the country to go barefoot on a yet-to-be-named Saturday in 2009.

The Samaritan’s Feet website says its goal is to equip 10 million impoverished children with 10 million pairs of shoes in to years.

This is a lofty goal, but realistic with people like Hunter and his team bringing this worthwhile charity to the forefront. Anyone who would like to donate or get involved, please visit the Samaritan’s Feet website at samaritansfeet.org.

Photo: Newscom