Coach Ron Hunter

January 08, 2008

Dear Coaches, Family, Friends and Supporters,

My name is Ron Hunter, Head Basketball Coach at IUPUI (Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis).

I recently had the privilege of meeting Emmanuel (Manny) Ohonme. Manny is the founder of Samaritan’s Feet. Four years ago, he left a lucrative marketing and supply chain job to start Samaritan’s Feet (www.samaritansfeet.org), a 501 c3 organization whose goal is to put 10 million pairs of shoes on children’s feet in 10 years around the world.

Manny is originally from Nigeria and grew up very poor. He received his first pair of shoes at the age of 9 from a missionary, who also taught him how to play basketball. These shoes allowed him to run and play without getting hurt and helped him get better at sports, specifically basketball.

He started playing travel basketball during his childhood and eventually played high school basketball in Nigeria. God blessed him with the ability to play basketball at a high level and eventually earned a scholarship to play at the University of North Dakota - Lake Region.

While in school, Manny earned his bachelors and masters degrees. He had a chance to play basketball overseas, but he turned it down to concentrate on his education. After graduation, he spent ten years in the logistics business until God called him to fulfill His plan for his life.

Samaritan’s Feet was formed in 2003 and four years later over 500,000 pairs of shoes have been donated. I am excited about what Manny is doing around the world.

Therefore, after much thought and prayer, I have decided to coach in my bare feet for our game on January 24th against Oakland.

Why would you do this Ron? Dr. Martin Luther King Day is January 21, 2008. Therefore, in recognition of what Dr. King did for our country, I want to honor his life by standing for the children around the world who don’t have a voice. I have always looked up to Dr. Martin Luther King and what he stood for. 2008 is the 40th anniversary of his death. I want to honor the late Dr. King by raising 40,000 pairs of shoes for children throughout the world. There are hundreds of millions of children who don’t have shoes. They suffer from diseases, infection and many other ailments because they don’t have shoes to wear. Needless to say, they can’t play sports without shoes.

We have been given an incredible opportunity and platform as coaches to use our status as role models for others and help children in need.

I am asking you to do two things:

1. Click on this link and donate $19.99 to buy a pair of shoes.
2. Challenge other coaches, CEO's, business owners and everyone to do the same every Friday in February to draw awareness to the world’s problem.
 

I am asking you to join me to accomplish the task of putting 40,000 pairs of shoes on children’s feet. Give the children hope in our country and around the world by displaying courage in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. He had courage, I know you do too.

If you are interested in supporting our cause, please contact me at rehunter@iupui.edu or Samaritan’s Feet Marketing Director, Todd Melloh at 317-417-3525 or tmelloh@samaritansfeet.org. I look forward to hearing from you. Please be blessed and be a blessing to others every day.

May God continue to bless you and your family.

Sincerely,

Ron Hunter
Head Basketball Coach, IUPUI