Women’s head basketball coach Dee Stokes and men’s head basketball coach Bobby Collins participated in “The Barefoot for Barefeet” Coaches Initiative Jan. 25 at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum against NC A&T.
Winston-Salem State partnered with Samaritan’s Feet, a national non-profit organization, to raise awareness and generate traffic to their fundraising efforts.
The event raised money to purchase shoes for impoverished children via text messages.
Fans who attended the games texted the word “shoes” to 85944 and a donation of $5 was billed to their next month’s statement.
The text resulted in a pair of shoes for a child who suffers from foot-borne diseases and infections due to a lack of shoes.
More than 1,000 other coaches throughout the country contributed to the cause by going barefoot to create funds to purchase one million pairs of shoes for children through Samaritan’s Feet.
“We are extremely pleased that both Coach Stokes and Coach Collins have embraced our call to shed their shoes and coach a game in their bare feet,” said Manny Ohonme, Samaritan’s Feet Founder.
“Both [Collins and Stokes] have agreed to use their platform as head coaches to provide a voice for those children worldwide who have never owned a pair of shoes.”