SHOES of HOPE HOUSTON

A local humanitarian initiative of Samaritan’s Feet

FOR IMMEDIATE REALEASE

Contact: Janaeya Carmouche

832.622.4549 Wireless
sohhouston@gmail.com

“Shoes of Hope Houston” launches International Effort with

Major Holiday Event
“Shoes of Hope Houston” and “Samaritan’s Feet” to provide shoes for 5,000
deserving Houstonians this Christmas

(Houston, TX) – Shoes of Hope Houston (www.sohhouston.tumblr.com) is a joint

venture with the global humanitarian mission, Samaritan’s Feet, to provide 5,000
underserved Houstonians with a pair of new shoes and socks. Local families
participating in the event will receive inspirational messages and information
regarding valuable resources.

Shoes of Hope Houston has developed an alliance of community and civic

leadership to reach out to Houston’s poor this season to provide this most basic
of needs in a perfect opportunity as school reopens for the spring semester.

Partners include: Rep. Al Green (TX-9), State Rep. Sylvester Turner,

Councilmember Jarvis Johnson, Coalition for the Homeless of Houston
(www.homelesshouston.org), Radio One, FOX26 Houston, and the Kingdom
Builders Global Fellowship. With these partners, Shoes of Hope Houston has
identified needy families in the Houston area.

Three hundred million people awake each morning without a pair of shoes to
protect their feet from injury and disease. Globally, over one million people die
yearly of preventable diseases due to the lack of shoes. Samaritan’s Feet
(www.samaritansfeet.org) is a non-profit organization dedicated to changing lives
through Shoes of Hope distributions around the world.

This nationwide effort has garnered the support of the Detroit Pistons, Atlanta
Hawks, and various NCAA teams. In addition to events being held in the US, the
2010 calendar includes humanitarian trips to Uganda, Nigeria, Zambia, Burundi,
Brazil, and Peru.

What: Shoes of Hope Houston & Samaritan’s Feet

 SHOES of HOPE HOUSTON
A local humanitarian initiative of Samaritan’s Feet
When: Saturday, December 19, 2009
10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
11:00 Media Availability

Where: Community of Faith Church

1024 Pinemont, 77018
(more)

Samaritan’s Feet Founder, Emmanuel Ohonme

Founder, Emmanuel (Manny) Ohonme is originally from Nigeria and grew up very
poor. He received his first pair of shoes at the age of 9 from a missionary, who
also taught him how to play basketball. These shoes allowed him to run and play
without getting hurt and helped him get better at sports, specifically basketball.
He started playing travel basketball during his childhood and eventually played
high school basketball in Nigeria. God blessed him with the ability to play
basketball at a high level and eventually earned a scholarship to play at the
University of North Dakota - Lake Region. While in school, Manny earned his
bachelors and masters degrees. He had a chance to play basketball overseas, but
he turned it down to concentrate on his education. After graduation, he spent ten
years in the logistics business.

Six years ago, he left a lucrative marketing and supply chain job to start
Samaritan’s Feet (www.samaritansfeet.org), a 501 c3 organization whose goal is
to put 10 million pairs of shoes on children’s feet in 10 years around the world.
Samaritan’s Feet was formed in 2003 and over six years later over 2.5 million
pairs of shoes have been donated. The organization’s focus is children from USA,
Africa, South America and the Caribbean.

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