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Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 28, 2021 – Local nonprofit Young Money Finances participates in the first annual One Peace Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
One Peace Festival was a single-day all-ages Hip Hop + health and wellness event. The Festival’s purpose was to bring the community together to promote unity in this time of division. Hosted at Campau Park, community members experienced a shared cultural experience. Centered around unity and peaceful dialogue, hip-hop culture is our vehicle.
Edwin Anderson and Matthew “Monk Matthaeus” Duncan, the co-founders of One Peace Festival, grew up on the Southeast side of Grand Rapids. Both are artists and community activists who have a desire to serve the community through love-fueled motivation and intentions.
The festival showcased area musicians, dancers, DJs, and visual artists. A large emphasis was placed on all aspects of health and wellness (financial, mind, body, and spirit). This year’s One Peace Festival featured a variety of activities that promote peace, unity, love, fun, and health and support locally-owned BIPOC businesses.
Founder, Dondrea Brown spent the day speaking with individuals and families about the financial and educational needs of the community.
The YMF team also spent the day talking about the financial education and resources the organization provides to families. One primary program in YMF is the summer and winter camps. Each camps focuses on money management, investing, and entrepreneurship. YMF was launched WHEN February 14th, 2019, modeled after curriculum Brown developed and inspired by his then- 8 -year-old daughter, Aniylah, who needed to budget and save for a gymnastics bar. She used the spend-share-give money tool created by her dad to realize her dream of getting a new gymnastics bar. Aniylah and her six siblings ranging in age 14 to 4 serve as advisers to Brown on YMF’s financial education, resources and branded materials.
About Young Money Finances
Young Money Finances is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that is transforming communities through financial literacy. YMF focuses on partnering with organizations and the community to provide high-impact and engaging financial education, services and resources. It is committed to empowering youth to flourish in these four main areas: health and wellness, education, entrepreneurship and community engagement. To learn more, visit ymfgr.org or connect on Facebook or Instagram.