ODU Basketball Players Put Their Best Foot Forward with Shoe Giveaway
2019年9月26日
ODU's Jason Wade washes the feet of a young girl at Jacox Elementary School.
ODU assistant coach Chris Kovensky listens raptly while talking to a Jacox student.
作者:哈利最小
Jason Wade dipped the little girl's feet into a basin of warm water, then washed them with soap. The water turned a soft brown as he rinsed her He then dried her feet and put on new socks and basketball shoes.
A simple act of kindness, yes, but it was so much more.
bet8体育娱乐入口's basketball players went to Jacox Elementary School, in one of Norfolk's most economically challenged neighborhoods, to take part in a recent shoe giveaway sponsored by Samaritan's Feet.
The players took advantage of the having the rapt attention of kids to talk to them about their dreams, and hopefully inspire them to work for a better life.
The girl Wade helped was hesitant to talk but began to open up. 他们聊了大约10分钟.
"She said tomorrow is the first day of school and that she's looking forward to it,韦德说。, 来自里士满郊区的大二学生. "Then she told me she wanted to be a scientist and we talked about that."
Wade told her that he achieved his dream by working hard in school, staying out of trouble and spending much of his spare time playing basketball. 同样，你也可以成为一名科学家.
When they were done, she smiled and gave him a hug.
It was an act repeated 500 times by ODU players and coaches in a few hours.
Not every child will remember what was said to them. But If just one life was changed, ODU coach Jeff Jones said, then it was worth it.
Regardless, the five hours at Jacox had a major effect on the players.
"It's an eye opener for our players because when you're in college playing basketball, 你一次能买到五六双鞋,助理教练约翰·理查森说. "Then when you come here, you see how grateful they are, how wide open their eyes are. 他们不关心鞋子的价值. 他们只想要鞋子.
"That makes our guys appreciate what they have, how fortunate they are to get a college education. 这里所有的孩子，他们只是想要一个机会."
这就是琼斯寻找这样事件的原因. He worked with Samaritan's Feet while at American University, and his players have worked camps and done other youth outreach at events.
It was ODU's first time doing a shoe giveaway with Samaritan's Feet, 一个由尼日利亚人创立的基督教组织, 伊曼纽尔球星, 谁在9岁时得到了他的第一双鞋. Since becoming successful in the tech field, he has given away more than 7 million shoes worldwide.
三一教堂, 哪家公司在六个地区提供服务, 罗比·霍尔之后也加入了这一行列, 诺福克市中心教堂的头领是谁, 还有罗尼·麦卡杜, 六个地点的传福音牧师, 会见了琼斯和助理教练布莱恩特·斯蒂斯.
麦卡杜是前ODU全美选手，他的妻子, 珍妮特·戴维斯·麦卡杜, 是帝王女子篮球队的佼佼者吗. 罗尼创立了1ed4all篮球训练营, which holds camps in Africa and attempts to convince kids to become Christians.
Because Jones was working with two Christian organizations, 这个项目没有涉及到大学的资金. 琼斯捐了一大笔钱. He declined to reveal how much, but it was enough to purchase more than 200 pairs of shoes.
"Giving back has become something of a cliché," Jones said. "But I think our guys understand they're very fortunate and they want to help those less fortunate than them. They want to see if they can encourage kids to achieve good things in their lives."
Hall said 三一教堂 recently received a call from a guidance counselor at Jacox who said simply, 我们的孩子需要帮助.
“Jacox建于1949年，”霍尔说. "The school is a part of our city that's under-resourced. When we met with the school administration, it appeared to be the right connection. It's going to benefit the school and our church to form a long-term relationship with them."
Jacox外, the line of parents and kids trying to get in was long as word spread about the shoe giveaway via Facebook. As the time for the event to end neared, there were more than 100 in line.
McAdoo told the crowd "anyone who's in line now, you'll get shoes."
扩音器里播放着舒缓的赞美音乐. 《爱有名字,由金·沃克-史密斯和耶稣文化演唱, 当麦卡杜在人群中表演时.
"We are a church and we've got to lift up the name of Jesus in every event we do," McAdoo said. "The washing feet comes from Jesus washing the disciples' feet.
“这是展示谦卑的好机会. To wash someone's feet and give them new shoes is the ultimate act of humility.
“这是一个巨大的祝福. We're so thankful to partner with Jeff Jones and bet8体育娱乐入口."
Robin Samuel, whose two boys received shoes, agreed. 她在一个非盈利组织工作 乡村家庭 这也有助于学童和家庭.
"This is a blessing to a lot of kids," Samuel said. "Just to see the smiles on their faces and the excitement you saw today.
"They're very appreciative and their parents are very appreciative."
