Through a special ticket promotion and silent auction proceeds, the Pistons will raise funds to purchase new shoes for Metro Detroit children. Fans can purchase discounted 200 level tickets for the Jan. 29 game for $15 each with $10 benefiting Samaritan’s Feet, with each $10 providing a pair of new shoes for a needy child. Also, fans can bring in a pair of new or gently used shoes or boots of any size to The Palace Box Office and receive a voucher redeemable for a $5-200 level ticket, good for games on Jan. 29, Feb. 6, Feb. 10, Feb 16 and Feb. 19. To order the specially priced tickets, participants can call (248) 377-0100, visit The Palace Box Office or click here.

The shoe drive will take place in the West Atrium by the big Pistons shoe statue on Friday, Jan. 29. Pre-selected children from local non-profits will receive new shoes during the game at a special distribution at the Comcast Pavilion on The Palace’s main concourse near section 119. The Pistons presenting sponsor National City, now a part of PNC, recently donated $9,000 to Samaritan’s Feet to purchase 900 pairs of shoes, and their donation will be highlighted at halftime of the Pistons game.

“Shoes are a basic need item that can easily be taken for granted,” said Tom Wilson, president and CEO of the Pistons. “Dedicating a night to raise funds to provide new shoes for children only made sense after we saw the overwhelming demand at our tip-off event. We are asking fans to support by donating a pair of shoes or purchase a discounted ticket in which a pair of shoes will be purchased and donated to a child.”

As a precursor to this event, the entire Pistons team was on hand at the Boll Family YMCA in Detroit for the annual season tipoff event in October, where 1,500 children received new shoes and socks. Pistons players and volunteers from Palace Sports & Entertainment, National City and Fathead helped pamper the kids by washing their feet and giving them a brand new pair of shoes and socks. All the proceeds from this game, along with the $9,000 donation from National City, now a part of PNC, will provide additional shoes for Detroit area children.

Samaritan’s Feet, founded in 2003, is a humanitarian relief organization based in Charlotte, NC that puts shoes on the feet of children all around the world. With over 300 million children going without shoes everyday, their goal is to provide 10 million pairs of shoes to 10 million impoverished people in 10 years. To date, nearly one million pairs of shoes have been collected for children around the world.

President and Founder, Manny Ohonme, received his first pair of shoes at the age of 9 from a missionary. He started playing basketball and other sports with these new pair of shoes and earned a spot on a traveling basketball team and eventually his high school team. Upon graduating high school he was offered a scholarship to play basketball at the University of North Dakota (Lake Region), where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. Visit www.samaritansfeet.org to learn more, or contact Todd Melloh at 317-417-3525.