January 31, 2014

Bluffton senior Josh Runda wasn't used to seeing children without a proper pair of shoes. But when he did, on Jan. 13, he was able to do something about it.

That Monday, Runda and teammates Eric Fox and Shawn Frost—along with their head coach, Tyson Veidt—traveled to Indianapolis, where they joined fellow first-team all-HCAC football players to help distribute shoes to 230 students at Padua Academy. The distribution was coordinated by Samaritan's Feet International, a Charlotte, N.C.-based humanitarian organization, with the conference.

After meeting and listening to Samaritan's Feet founder and president Manny Ohonme, the players met and talked one-on-one with the Padua students in kindergarten through eighth grade. They washed many of the children's feet and gave them a new pair of socks before the students were fitted for a new pair of shoes.

"At first it was really awkward. The idea of washing another person's feet isn't very appealing," admits Runda, a senior from Lima, Ohio, majoring in broadcasting and journalism. "But as soon as you started talking to the kids, you forgot all about it. Meeting the kids was awesome and definitely worth it."

"You don't really realize how valuable something as small as shoes are," he adds about the experience, noting that some of the children wore shoes that were either a size too small or too large. "It really put things into perspective for me, and I realize how much we take for granted."

It was also a unique opportunity for Runda because he got to work with athletes who have been his opponents for the past four years. "It was a great experience to work with guys I have competed against for a cause that is greater than football," he says.

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Courtesy: Bluffton University Public Relations