TNT’s Inside the NBA Crew to Put Best Feet Forward to Help Samaritan’s Feet
Kenny, Ernie and Chuck unite for a cause
Samaritan’s Feet Founder Emmanuel “Manny” Ohonme Will Join TNT Emmy® Award-Winning NBA Studio Show on Sun., May 11.
Turner Sports announced today that TNT’s Inside the NBA announcers will go barefoot on Mother’s Day, Sun., May 11, in an effort to raise awareness for Samaritan’s Feet, a charitable organization whose mission is to help outfit 10 million impoverished children worldwide with 10 million pairs of shoes in 10 years. Samaritan’s Feet founder Emmanuel “Manny” Ohonme will join TNT announcers Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith during the show, which follows NBA Playoffs coverage of the New Orleans Hornets @ San Antonio Spurs at 8 p.m. ET.
The segment will feature background information on Samaritan’s Feet as well as how to get involved and donate to the organization. In addition, sponsors such as AutoTrader.com, Converse, Protégé – a shoe company founded by Warriors teammates Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington, as well as Turner Sports and NBA Cares will make donations of shoes and money to the charity.
Samaritan’s Feet garnered national attention earlier this year when Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) head basketball coach Ron Hunter coached in his bare feet on January 24 to help raise money and shoes for the organization.
TNT’s Emmy® award-winning studio host Ernie Johnson on why he is involved with Samaritan’s Feet:
“My wife, Cheryl and I were watching the news a couple months ago when ABC made Ron Hunter, the coach at IUPUI, their ‘person of the week’ for coaching a game in his bare feet to bring attention to Samaritan’s Feet, and we were really touched. When I was at the Final Four in San Antonio I met Manny Ohonme, the founder of Samaritan’s Feet, who as a nine-year old boy in Nigeria received his first pair of shoes. That’s where his idea came from. We talked about the possibility of doing something toward his mission of putting 10 million pairs of shoes on 10 million kids’ feet worldwide within 10 years. So with the help of folks here at Turner, and the NBA, and shoe companies, and sponsors, we decided to bring Manny into the studio on Mother’s Day (May 11). Kenny, Charles and I will start that night’s Inside the NBA post-game show barefoot, and later will bring Manny on to talk about Samaritan’s Feet and give him a donation of money and shoes.”
Samaritan’s Feet founder Manny Ohonme on joining the TNT studio show:
“I am very humbled by Turner Sports, the NBA and the sponsors who have stepped up to help children around the world who don’t have shoes. I met Ernie Johnson at the Final Four and I quickly learned what a good man he is and quickly picked up on his passion towards helping people. I admire him and the entire team at TNT. I am blown away by their generosity towards children they’ll never meet.”
For more information and to donate to Samaritan’s Feet, please visit www.samaritansfeet.org.
I remember reading about Coach Ron Hunter. This is a really good charity! TNT is going to bring some really good attention to this on Sunday.