Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016, Avenue Music Group provided more than 600 Bedford-Stuyvesant residents with food and clothing for their Spread Love Thanksgiving Day event. Spearheaded by AMGs CEO Joshua Walker and in collaboration with 200 plus local organizations and individuals, including Bed-Stuy Gateway BID, Councilman Robert Cornegy and Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright.
When the Amsterdam News spoke with Walker the Thursday of the event, the committed community activist stated that he had not slept in the past 48 hours. His dedication could be seen throughout the event, which had doubled in size from last year. From the 20-plus entertainment acts to the overwhelming outpouring of community attendance, the event was downright amazing.
With hundreds of people getting plates, watching the entertainment and rummaging through piles of clothes, the Amsterdam News chopped it up with community leader Jemall Henderson. He worked with Walker on the day-to-day planning of this event, and he highlighted how there were many businesses in the newly gentrified community of Bedford-Stuyvesant that did not want to partner with AMGs efforts to give back, although they daily reap the benefits of the community residents. “You see that there are not any gentrifiers here,” he noted, “even though they now live right here all over the area.”
However, despite the lack of participation, AMG was still able to collectively feed and clothe 650 people in a time span of four hours (2 p.m. to 6 p.m.), with the help of community sponsors such as Angela’s, Applebees, Carvel Ice Cream, Panera Bread, Foodtown, My Base, ACA Branding, El Jefe, Deans List Tour, Paint and Poetry, Back to Basics, allblackradio.com, Squarecircles.org and the Amsterdam News.
What’s next for Walker? He said that he will raise $50,000 to fund his nonprofit organization, which teaches entrepreneurship skills to the youth in 20 schools of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. Right now, Walker is looking for community partners who would like to collaborate with his organization in mentoring the youth. Walker noted that all people have a different story to tell, and we can all sow a different seed of wisdom in the youth was one of the main messages. Walker is asking for donations to Avenue Music Group and their amazing cause at www.gofundme/amg50k.
Contact information is info@amger.org Amg_ceo amg_re amg_culture on all social media outlets. Be sure to keep up with AMG by visiting their website www.amger.org.