Sarah HendersonFour students in the Ole Miss Master of Business Administration program collaborated to produce the Memory Makers Music Festival benefit concert for the local non-profit organization.
Students Jack Thompson, Tripp Bolin, Mac Baird and Daniel Goodspeed have joined Shorty & The Mob and members of local bands Oxford Whig Party and The Busty Petites to host the concert at 6 p.m. tonight at Harrison’s Bar.
Memory Makers is a nonprofit program in Oxford that helps those affected by memory loss from Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia. According to the festival’s website, Memory Makers offers “a stimulating social program for those with memory loss, respite for caregivers, family counseling/support, education and resources.”
Goodspeed said the four received an assignment for a class to create an event with a local nonprofit to raise funds for the charity.
“The directions of the project were to pick a local nonprofit charity, come up with some sort of service or product to sell and then donate all your proceeds to that charity,” Goodspeed said. “All four of us love music and entertaining, so when Jack made the suggestion to put on a concert, we were all in.”
The program is able to accommodate 12-15 people per day, and funds from tonight’s benefit concert will help update facilities, provide more sufficient care for patients and lessen the financial burdens intrinsic to operating a nonprofit organization.
“I have seen firsthand how horrible these two diseases can be, so when we found out that there are over 500 families in Lafayette County that are affected by these diseases, my colleagues and I agreed that this was the charity we wanted to help,” Goodspeed added.
He also said they anticipate a crowd of 350-500 people.
Goodspeed said he contacted The Busty Petites and Oxford Whig Party to be headliners and recruited members from both bands to perform together. Thompson and Bolin contacted Shorty & The Mob to be the opener.
Tickets are $10 at the door on the night of the event or prepaid through Venmo to @Memory-Makers-2019.
