By Myra Bean
and Rita Howell
L. A. Sparks guard Armintie Price-Herrington will headline the speakers at the annual Boys and Girls Club Steak and Steak banquet Thursday night at 6 at the Batesville Civic Center.

Price-Herrington is a 2007 graduate of Ole Miss where she led the Lady Rebels to the 2007 NCAA Elite Eight, their first appearance since 1992.

Price was just the second player in NCAA history to record over 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 400 assists and 400 steals. As a senior, she was named First Team All-America by ESPN.com.
Growing up in New Albany, Price used to play basketball at the Boys and Girls Club with her sisters and brothers when they were in high school.

Price-Herrington said her talk Thursday night will center around making people more aware of the Boys and Girls Club and how necessary it is to the community.

“Boys and Girls Club encourages the kids to live and grow outside of the classroom,” she said. “I want to increase the awareness of how important the Boys and Girls Club is. I am really just going to pray and let God lead me to say what He wants.”

She spoke at the Grenada Boys and Girls Club a couple of months ago, with her former Ole Miss coach, Carol Ross.

Since graduating, she was the No. 3 draft pick by the Atlanta Dream WNBA team in 2007 and has played overseas in Russia, Israel, Spain and Turkey the last three years. She has also served on Ole Miss Lady Rebels team as an assistant coach to head coach Renee Ladner.
She just signed a two-year contract with the L. A. Sparks to start May 3.

She decided to sit out this year from going overseas.

“I decided to spend some time with my family and church family,” she said.

She is married to Reginald Herrington, assistant principal and athletic director at North Panola High School. They live in Grenada.

SoGiv founder speaks
Also speaking at Thursday night’s banquet will be shoe designer Edward Bogard of Memphis, founder of SoGiv, a non-profit organization that gives a portion of its shoe sales to a variety of causes.

Purchasers go online to order shoes or apparel, then have the opportunity to select one of 17 causes, ranging from education to aid to the homeless, to support with a portion of the purchase price.

Bogard, 31, founded SoGiv in 2009 after graduating from the Savannah College and Art and Design and embarking on a promising career during which he has designed athletic shoes for professional teams like the Memphis Grizzlies, and collegiate teams like the University of Memphis.

“I was living a dream,” he said Monday in a phone interview with The Panolian. “But I wanted a way to give back. I’m not a doctor or researcher. I asked ‘how do I impact a life?’”
His inspiration for SoGiv came from his mother.

He said all his life he’d watched his mother, a school teacher, as she collected and saved coats and clothing her family no longer used and kept them in a supply closet at school to be given to those she encountered who needed them.

The company’s slogan, “Every paid sold, we give,” gave way to the name “SoGiv.”

In all SoGiv forwards donations, 20 percent of the purchase price, to some 17 causes, including education, cancer research, HIV/aids, natural disasters, homelessness, mental illness, heart disease, multiple schlerosis, animal cruelty, world hunger, obesity, the disabled, infant mortality, military active duty and veterans, suicide prevention, sickle cell anemia, and diabetes.

In addition to supporting the causes listed on the Web site, Bogard also offers opportunities for donors and volunteers to participate in a variety of initiatives in the Memphis area.

“Right now we have our SoGiv Blessing Boxes,” he said, explaining that SoGiv shoeboxes are packed with small containers of various toiletries and distributed at Memphis homeless shelters.
Volunteers are invited to make a monetary donation or drop off toiletries at participating businesses.

The shoes
Bogard designs SoGiv shoes and t-shirts with a distinctive pattern that reflects the seven continents, with the idea that giving can reach needs and causes and raise awareness around the globe.

“It allows me, when I go into schools, to teach about the seven continents,” Bogard said. “I have adults who come up to me and say, ‘I didn’t know there were seven continents.’”
The shoes also carry the letters “WAMIMS” on the back. It means “walk a mile in my shoes.”
For more information, visit the Web site sogiv.org.