One Coast Jam 2024 benefits Better Way To Give Initiative

One Coast Jam 2024 brought together community and state leaders, local celebrities and musicians for a night of community togetherness and giving back to those in need. Gulf Coast Community Foundation president and executive director Christen Duhe explained exactly how the event served as a fundraiser.

“It’s to support the Better Way To Give fund that’s held at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, and it’s just local celebrities, if you will, like the mayors and different people like that that are here performing all night and the proceeds go to the Better Way To Give fund,” Duhe said, “Which is a fund that we set up a year ago to help with the panhandling to try to tell people, maybe instead of giving to panhandlers, you can give to this fund, and the fund has been used over the last year to buy hotel rooms for people, bus tickets, down payments on an apartment. Basically, trying to get people that are on the verge of homelessness or are newly unhoused and just to help with that situation.”

Those donations go on to also help first responders and nonprofit agencies provide immediate assistance to those in need.

“The local law enforcement was going into their own pockets and purchasing hotel rooms, food for individuals that they would come upon at night that didn’t have anywhere to go, so we help support that,” Duhe said.

James Pennington, the executive director of the Back Bay Mission, explained how his nonprofit works in connection with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

“So this is something that for me, it’s all about resources, and all about the more resources, the better, for people that are unsheltered, for people living in poverty,” Pennington said. “If we can prevent homelessness… that’s a bunch of what we do with this particular fund.”

Residents from all along the Gulf Coast enjoyed great food and music from nearly a dozen different artists, and even saw musical performances from a few politicians.

“The Mayor of Gulfport is playing the drums, and the Mayor of Biloxi will be playing the piano and singing, which just amazes me,” Pennington said. “You know, we’re in this small community, and these mayors are really engaged, right?”

This is the second annual One Coast Jam following last year’s extremely successful event, and it appears that One Coast Jam will hopefully continue for years to come.