While we spend time obsessing over crazy designs and other non-essential features of a sneaker, we never stop to think about those unfortunate families living in third world countries who would consider just the protection of their feet good enough. Or when we’re full and consider throwing away that extra loaf of bread, we never stop to realize how that same loaf of bread could help that same family go without starving for the rest of the week.Sometimes, it’s pretty easy to lose perspective. That is, unless you’re Philadelphia 76ers’ center Samuel Dalembert.Born on May 10, 1981, in Port-Au-Pince, Haiti, Dalembert spent the first 14 years of his life in poverty. Raised by his grandmother, Dalembert suffered a childhood without many of the resources we currently take for granted. Food was scarce, there was no television for entertainment, and there were no shoes to play in.”We’d pray to God that it didn’t rain so water wouldn’t come in,” Dalembert recalled. “You go here to the ghetto in America, and you think ‘wow, that’s tough’. To us, that’s luxury. At least you have a roof over your head and a TV you can watch. You would want to live in a ghetto compared to the poverty in Haiti.”If anything, Dalembert’s childhood provided him with a sense of humility. He never takes things for granted. He’s also learned that personal relationships far outweigh the value of material possessions. Save the bling bling and the fancy cars for someone else.”Whenever I spend money, I always picture how I grew up and how much more of a difference that money would make in someone else’s life,” he said. “Right now, I am supporting so many people that at the end of the day I have to make a smart investment so when I’m done playing I can still support them.”Over his career, Dalembert has made sure to back up those words. In 2004, he offered $22,500 to The Red Cross in order to help Haitian hospitals. When floods hit Haiti six months later, he was there once again. In 2007, Dalembert took it a step further when he founded the philanthropic Samuel Dalembert Foundation. Last February, for his ongoing charitable work, Dalembert was rewarded with the NBA Community Assist Award.”God has been so kind to me,” Dalembert explained. “I prayed and he answered. I feel with the Foundation and other programs, and just being myself, I feel I can contribute to the needs of others. When we help, we do some good and we glorify God.”Due to recent events in Haiti, that help is needed once again.On January 12, Haiti was devastated by an earthquake that registered a 7.0 on the Richter scale. Haiti has recently confirmed that the total death toll has exceeded over 150,000. Dalembert was quick to make a trip to his native land where what he witnessed brought tears to his eyes.”I have some disturbing pictures in my head and it hurts,” Dalembert recalled. “I saw someone’s leg amputated in front of me on a folding kitchen table. There was no surgery room. You could hear him screaming because there was not enough alcohol. Things we take for granted, you know?”Dalembert vowed to do everything he could to help. He started by presenting a personal check of $100,000 to Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of UNICEF USA, to help aid relief efforts in Haiti. In addition, he also pledged to match the amount of money donated by Sixers’ fans at a game played on January 15. The fans responded by donating more than $30,000.However, Dalembert isn’t finished yet.”I’m going to do something in Philadelphia too,” he said. “I will have a plane come in here and collect stuff to take over there. Also, I will let people know that if doctors want to give their time, that plane can go over there bringing doctors. I know I’m not going to save the whole country. But I know I can save a lot of lives. Making it just a little better. That’s my different mentality.”It’s a refreshing attitude in this day and age of the modern athlete that sees athletes consumed with greed more and more everyday. Just ask Latrell Sprewell what he thought about a 3 year contract worth 21 million dollars that he was offered in 2004.”What they offered me, that’s not going to cut it,” he said at the time. “I told you, I need to feed my family.”Right. Try explaining that logic to a struggling mother who sacrifices her own hunger day in and day out just so her kids can have a complete meal. Then come and talk about what’s going to cut it or not.It’s just a pity that the Sprewells of the sporting world seem to outnumber the Dalemberts.