DCC Buccaneers Hosting Barefoot Coaching Night Thursday, January 31, 2019
Lady Bucs Coach Romeo Lagmay and Buccaneers Coach Joe Peterson will be coaching their games against United Tribes Technical College on Thursday night in their bare feet to help raise awareness of the millions of people throughout the world who don’t have proper footwear. This is the third year they have partnered with Samaritan’s Feet to host this event.
“Barefoot Coaching” is a movement that was started by Samaritan’s Feet in 2003. Founders Manny and Tracie Ohonme (Oh-ho-may) created it with the goal of distributing 10 million pairs of shoes in 10 years. Since that time, almost 7 million pairs of shoes have been distributed in over 75 countries and in over 325 US cities. The organization is based in Charlotte, NC. There are also offices in Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Samaritan’s Feet Founder Manny Ohonme came to the United States to play basketball in the late 1980’s at Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, ND, so the Mon-Dak Conference has a special place in the heart of the organization. For the past 4 seasons, both the Men’s and Women’s coaches at Lake Region have been “Barefoot Coaches” and will do so again in February. College Coaches who coach a game barefoot is one of the many ways that Samaritan’s Feet draws awareness to the need for proper footwear.
Over 1.5 billion people are infected with soil-transmitted diseases that could be prevented by wearing proper footwear. Over 300 million children in Africa alone do not own a pair of shoes. Coach Peterson spent many years serving in Africa and has seen this firsthand.
Even in America, good shoes is a need. According to the most recent “Champions for Kids” report, shoes and socks are in the “Top 10 Items Schools Need You to Donate.”
Any fans who bring a new pair of shoes or donate money at Thursday night’s game will receive a free bag of popcorn and a ticket to a future game.
The new shoe donations that are received at Thursday’s games will be used by Samaritan’s Feet to serve children and adults within the Mon-Dak region as part of their “Shoes of Hope” shoe distributions. Samaritan’s Feet shares a message of love and hope by washing the feet of those who receive shoes, helping them believe that their dreams can come true.
Any money donated on Thursday will go towards buying shoes for a school for orphans in rural Kenya called Christ’s Gift Academy (CGA). Coach Peterson worked at CGA for 11 years and has seen the positive impact the school has had on children in the region. With the 2nd highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Africa, the number of orphans is overwhelming and the region around CGA is a difficult place for a young person to grow up. Many children aren’t able to access a quality education. Having school shoes helps them to possess dignity and self-confidence and also prevents against disease and injuries that can keep them out of school. All money raised will go to buying school shoes for students at CGA.
Game times are Thursday at 5:30 pm for the women and 7:30 pm for the men.
For much more information about Samaritan’s Feet, please go to www.samaritansfeet.org
For more information on CGA please go to www.cgakenya.org