Amplify My Community Announces $20,000 Gift to Two Local Charities Following the 2025 Amplify Decatur Music Festival

Amplify My Community Has Directed More Than $645,000 to Community-Based Nonprofits Since 2011

May 16, 2025 (Decatur, GA) — The nonprofit organization Amplify My Community is announcing a combined total gift of $20,000 to Decatur Cooperative Ministry (DCM) and Decatur Education Foundation (DEF) to aid their vital missions. The unrestricted gift to these charities was made possible by funds generated from the Amplify Decatur Music Festival held April 25–27.

Amplify Decatur Music Festival, presented by Lenz and produced in partnership with Eddie’s Attic, featured a free concert Saturday, April 26 on the Decatur Square with headliner The Last Waltz Ensemble performing the greatest hits of Bob Dylan and The Band. Hope for Agoldensummer, Andrew Holley, Eric Toledo of Quiet Hounds, and Polly Holliday rounded out the bill.

Additional events included a Friday night concert featuring The Core and opening act Buffalo at the Avon Theater in Avondale Estates; free, Saturday afternoon pop-up performances at locations on and around the Decatur Square; and a show paying tribute to the music of classic female country artists Sunday night at Eddie’s Attic.

To date, Amplify has donated more than $645,000 in unrestricted gifts to locally oriented anti-homelessness and poverty-focused organizations — including more than $430,000 in Decatur.

“We are thrilled to be able to make this gift to two incredibly worthy groups, especially in the current environment in which funding for nonprofits is threatened,” says Drew Robinson, president of the Amplify My Community board. “Amplify’s success is truly a testament to the strength of our community – starting from (festival director) Christine Mahin’s leadership, and including all of our generous sponsors, our wonderful volunteers, the city of Decatur, and local business partners.”

For more information on upcoming events and to donate to Amplify My Community, please visit AmplifyMyCommunity.org.

2025 Amplify Decatur Music Festival sponsors: Natalie Gregory & Co., Decatur Package Store, Three Taverns Craft Beers, Visit Decatur Georgia, Savannah Distributing Co., Creature Comforts Brewing Co., Iris and Bruce Feinberg, Brick Store Pub, Leafmore Group, Plumb Works, 97.1 The River, Kudzu Antiques, Scott D. Miller MD, Decatur Football Club, Mothers Best Fried Chicken, The Marlay House, Smiley’s Burger Club, Arlo, O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub, Raging Burrito, The Reading Room, and The Caldwell Family of East Lake.

Amplify My Community was founded in 2010 and is based in Decatur, Georgia. Its mission is to leverage the universal love of music to fight poverty at the local level. To date, Amplify has produced more than 120 concerts, and raised and donated more than $645,000 in unrestricted gifts to locally oriented anti-homelessness and poverty-focused organizations — including more than $430,000 in Decatur. Amplify has held concert series in Atlanta, Athens, Decatur, Suwanee, and Duluth, Georgia; Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Charlottesville, Virginia, and featured acts such as Indigo Girls, Lucinda Williams, Ben Harper, Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples, Blind Boys of Alabama, Old Crow Medicine Show, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Rodney Crowell, The War & Treaty, Patty Griffin, James McMurtry, John Paul White, Son Volt, Justin Townes Earle, Bruce Hornsby, Milk Carton Kids, Ricky Skaggs, Julien Baker, Drivin’ N Cryin’, Junior Brown, Amanda Shires, Bobby Bare, Jr., Lucero, Colin Meloy, The Mavericks, Shawn Mullins, The Lone Bellow, The Jayhawks, Jay Farrar, and Harold Holloway & Co.

Decatur Cooperative Ministry’s mission is to help families facing homelessness settle into safe, stable homes and build healthy lives filled with peace, hope, and opportunity. Founded in 1969, Decatur Cooperative Ministry (DCM) offers transitional housing, shelter, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing programs. DCM’s programs span the entire spectrum of currently recognized homelessness interventions. To accomplish this, DCM partners with 35 congregations from 14 denominations as well as private foundations, universities and schools, government agencies, community groups, and local businesses.

Decatur Education Foundation works together with the City Schools of Decatur, Decatur Housing Authority, and City of Decatur to bolster community efforts and ensure that ALL students have the resources, opportunities, and experiences in order to foster their growth and ensure their academic success.