Last Thursday, the Samaritan's Feet "Barefoot for Bare Feet" program teamed up with the NCAA to give away 2,010 pairs of shoes. To make the event possible, hundreds of volunteers were needed at George Washington High School on the city's Westside. When Kim Moffett, an instructor with the Indiana University School of Social Work, heard of the event she asked her students whether they wanted to help out. At least 18 students agreed and on Thursday, they sat shoulder to shoulder as they carefully washed the feet of the shoe recipients and then outfitted them with a pair of shoes. Moffett saw the event as a great learning experience on a number of different levels for the social work students to see how people can be connected to resources to what can happen when big and small nonprofit organizations ranging from neighborhood groups to the NCAA pull together to help people. In the weeks to come, Moffett and her students will reflect on the event and what this experience means for the community and for the students. Samaritan's Feet, a humanitarian relief organization based in Charlotte, NC, works to put shoes on the feet of an estimated 300 million children worldwide who have no shoes. "The shoe distribution is part of the ‘Barefoot For Bare Feet' Project, which was headlined by IUPUI Head Basketball Coach Ron Hunter's nationwide effort of coaching a game in his bare feet for Samaritan's Feet," according to the humanitarian organization. As one person after another was fitted with a pair of shoes, the social work students sometimes held the children on their laps. It was often hard to tell who wore the biggest smiles on their faces - the shoe recipients or the IUPUI students.
BSW student Monica Spearman listens to an
excited shoe recipient
Press Release Contact:
Rob Schneider
IUPUI
robschn@iupui.edu
(317) 278-0303
Copyright © 2010 The Trustees of Indiana University | Copyright Complaints
ES 4138 | 902 W. New York Street | Indianapolis, IN 46202 | Phone (317) 274-6705 | Fax (317) 274-8630 | Email socweb@iupui.edu