MAM youth from the MAM Leawood Center participated in this year’s Samaritan’s Feet event sponsored by the Lipscomb and Pitts Breakfast Club.
Two NFL football stars giving back in Memphis
June 7, 2012 – MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) – Two celebrated NFL stars are in Memphis right now, providing brand new shoes and socks to 500 local kids.
Former University of Memphis running back DeAngelo Williams and wide receiver Steve Smith, both of whom now play for the Carolina Panthers, are at the Streets Ministries giving back.Williams and Smith are teaming up with the Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club and Samaritan’s Feet in order to provide brand new footwear to 500 pre-selected children.
The kids were pre-selected and all were chosen because they are associated with Streets Ministries, Memphis Athletic Ministries, and Girls Inc.
Along with Williams and Smith, University of Memphis Tiger Elliot Perry and the women’s basketball team are also there helping sort the shoes and wash kids’ feet as they are presented with their new kicks.The event will go until 2 p.m. Friday.
The Memphis Daily News
June 8, 2012 By Andy Meek
DeAngelo Williams Joins Samaritan’s Feet Event
Two NFL players from the Carolina Panthers are scheduled to be in Memphis Friday, June 8, to help provide 500 kids with new shoes and socks.
Former University of Memphis star and current Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams and Carolina teammate Steve Smith will join the Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club in partnering with Samaritan’s Feet for the day of giving back. The majority of the shoe distribution is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Streets Ministries, 1304 N. Graham St.
Business leaders, civic leaders like former University of Memphis basketball star Elliot Perry and members of the U of M women’s basketball team were scheduled to be on hand.
The children are all associated with Streets Ministries, Memphis Athletic Ministries and Girls Inc.
The Good in Sports
http://thegoodinsports.com/ – June 13, 2012
Steve Smith, shoes, Samaritan’s Feet
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith has made a living outrunning defensive backs. So, it’s only natural that he’d refer to himself as a “Shoe Guy.” Not a Shoe Guy like Tom, or Manolo Blahnik, or even Chuck Taylor.
But a Shoe Guy in the sense that he is helping underprivileged kids get shoes. On June 8, Smith and former University of Memphis star running back DeAngelo Williams joined the Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club in partnership with Samaritan’s Feet for a day of giving back to the community.
The approximate 500 recipients at this year’s event in Memphis are all associated with Streets Ministries, Memphis Athletic Ministries, and Girls Inc.
But Samaritan’s Feet founder Manny Ohonme has a bigger plan in place. Already reaching 4 million children worldwide, Ohonme plans on increasing his current plan from 40 U.S. cities to 60, and the group visits four to six other countries every year. This year, trips are planned to both Peru and Jerusalem in the coming months. Smith is the NFL ambassador for Samaritan’s Feet.
“There are 300 million kids that wake up every morning without shoes when (walking) is their mode of transportation,” said Ohonme, who received his first pair of shoes in Nigeria when he was 9. Years later, he created Samaritan’s Feet, which provides impoverished children with shoes.
Smith became a member of Samaritan’s Feet when he was looking for a humanitarian event to participate in with his family and met Ohonme at his church in Charlotte. For his trip to Memphis, Smith invited Williams, the former University of Memphis star.
“The most rewarding part of this is seeing the smile on the kids’ faces after you have a conversation with them,” Williams told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “It feels wonderful to have the opportunity to reach into someone’s life and help them with something they might not get at home.”
“I love telling the kids that they can do anything they set their minds to,” Smith said, “and it brings a smile to their face; that’s when you know you’re doing something right.”
