JUNE 20
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Vol 21, No. 2 • June 2021
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Edmond’s shoes are made for basketball and for making connections Corinth will be the first small town the organization will visit. “A lot of us are from Corinth, and we fell bad we haven’t done it here before,” he said. In Corinth, Edmond will be getting local help from his brothers Ronald Edmond and Danny Burley, who are also regular volunteers at other sites. Henry Diamond, who’s like a brother, and other locals are coming back to help. The Boys & Girls Club and other organizations helped by gathering names and sizes of those who will be getting the shoes. Edmond said he and the others in the organization numbering about 100 are excited about the opportunity to reach out in Corinth. “The process in the last year been going slow because of Covid,” he said, adding that they’re planning another event in Memphis in August with police officers there. A member of the organization is a Memphis officer and has a connection to get the Nike shoes that are handed out. “This is a great opportunity to go back to Corinth and give out tennis shoes. It’s a wonderful thing to give back.” The shoes represent more than athletic footwear. “Hopefully, through the shoe give away, we want them to realize what police officers do for their community,” Edmond said. “We tell them they don’t have to be a follower and that they can be a leader. We say if you can make that decision, you can get on the Danny Burley, and Henry Damons, Jr. right path.” Another way this group of mentors are role models in the communities they visit, they play basketball games with the kids and host tournagoing to try to have a ments. “We didn’t get to play any basketball games last year” because of the pandemic, Barbershop Talk in Corinth.” he said. Through the organizations, Edmond plans on retiring from the Dallas Police Department in two years. Currently tennis shoes have been distribhe works as a mental health officer. “I drive around with a fireman and a clinician on uted in Miami, Memphis, St. mental health calls.” Louis and Atlanta in the past.
By Lucy Weber One hundred children and teens in Corinth will be sporting new athletic shoes soon, thanks to a dedicated coalition of community groups from across the U.S. that are committed to helping youth through sports here and abroad. Corinth native Tony Edmond, a Dallas police officer, is coming home to help with the distribution on July 3. Edmond is a board member of Twin Soup Foundation of Memphis, Lights & Sirens International out of Providence, R.I., and two other non-profit organizations that want to make sure youth people receive the support and encouragement they need to succeed. The groups, which include a great number of police and firefighters, use the game of basketball to connect, and have even built basketball courts in the Dominican Republican to make that connection. Edmond played basketball at Northeast Community College and Mississippi State before finishing his playing career at Texas Christian University. “Through sports, we connect to children. We come together in a community to give out T-shirts and tennis shoes,” Edmond said. Since many or the dedicated volunteers work in law enforcement, “we give ‘Barbershop Talks’ to bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement officers. We’re Stacey McKinnon, Ronald Edmond, Tony Edmond (center), Return Address: P.O. Box 1292 Corinth, MS 38835
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