The Sankofa Fund for Civic Engagement, a local philanthropic fund started by a group of 20 community-minded African American young professionals, will host an Old School Party with a Purpose with special guest Kool Moe Dee on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. The event will take place at the Camp House immediately after Kool Moe Dee’s Levitt Amp Concert on the Bessie Smith lawn.
The community is invited to come celebrate and dance to hits from the 80s and 90s, meet Kool Moe Dee and the organization’s founding members, and learn more about some of the organizations working to improve communities in Chattanooga. All proceeds from the event will fund the newly established District Five Fund, and support the public schools in District Five.
The event will also serve as the kickoff of a new partnership with the Lyndhurst Foundation, which will allow the Sankofa Fund to give money to grassroots arts and culture organizations and projects having a positive impact in Chattanooga’s African American communities.
By the end of the current fiscal year, the Sankofa Fund members will have donated almost $50,000 to programs and organizations serving Chattanooga's African American communities.
The Sankofa Fund for Civic Engagement is a membership organization committed to funding and supporting organizations, projects and efforts which improve Chattanooga's communities of color. Sankofa literally means to go back and get what was taken. After the term made its way to the United States, African-American scholars coined the term to mean remembering the past, to protect the future.
The fund is housed at the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga. Members commit to making an annual gift to the fund, volunteering for various organizations, and collectively making funding decisions.
To apply for funding from the Sankofa Fund for Civic Engagement or to make a contribution, visit www.sankofacha.com.