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Two more coaches take off shoes for kids

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Two more basketball coaches are shedding their shoes for needy children, this time in a game tonight at Riverside City College.

Riverside Coach John Smith said he was told by a cousin about Ron Hunter, the coach at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis who guided his team in his bare feet during a game last month to raise donations for shoes for children around the world. Smith then became interested in the cause and persuaded Fullerton College Coach Allen Caveness to join him.

“The story of the kid who didn’t have a pair of shoes until he was 9 years old just moves me,” Smith said. “I’ve never met Ron, but he put it best on the website: We can use our platform. As small as it is, it’s bigger than what those underprivileged kids have.”

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Smith is asking fans to bring new shoes to the game or donate through the website www.samaritansfeet.org.

Smith said it took some talking to get Caveness to agree to take his off.

“He’s going to coach in his socks,” Smith said. “His feet are too ugly.”

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-- Robyn Norwood

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