The Susan G. Cooper Community Impact & Empowerment Foundation

The biggest gospel concert in the southeast is coming to the Columbus Civic Center this February. The second annual Mega Gospel Concert will take place Sunday, February 27, 2022, at 6 p.m.
 

Billed as a “musical explosion,” the concert will feature inspirational and motivational performances from some of the genre’s most celebrated artists and iconic gospel legends. Fred Hammond will headline the event along with the Dottie Peoples, Koryn Hawthorne and more. In addition to the music, Community Impact & Empowerment awards will be presented that evening.
 

Barbara Gauthier, WTVM anchor, will emcee the concert, which is put on by the SGC Community Impact & Empowerment Foundation. Susan G. Cooper, the Columbus-based businesswoman and philanthropist who started the foundation in May 2021, will host the evening.
 

“My parents’ love for music, including the gospel was an inspiration. Helping my mother organize July 4th backyard gospel concerts for her birthday most years back in Alabama inspired me to put this concert together, which is why it’s called the Gospel Explosion,” said Cooper. “This event will empower you. It will impact and speak to the heart of our community. It will inspire solutions, speak to crime and bring love, unity, charity, healing, opportunity, hope and renewed faith for such a time as this for those who need it the most.”
 

A portion of the proceeds from the charity concert will benefit low-income individuals who need emergency shelter after a home or apartment complex fire or weather-related disaster. The foundation will provide resources, technical assistance and capacity building to start-ups, small nonprofit organizations, and women-owned and minority businesses that serve and support disadvantaged youth, single mothers, seniors, minority business owners, and access to affordable housing.

The SGC Community Impact Awards segment recognizes individuals who are instrumental in advocating for the disadvantaged and underserved community.
 

“Our mission is to spread charity, love and hope to give back and build up,” said Cooper. ”We want to help people break their own cycle of poverty and enable them to seek access to housing, business ownership and financial empowerment. We advocate for resources, social justice and economic success. Our goal is to lift those bent beneath their loads — the least, last, disenfranchised, underserved and disadvantaged community.

Sponsors of the event include: Black Voters Matters, State Farm, Jimmy Watts, Game Changer Foundation, Black Money Magazine and Centennial Realty & Mortgage Company.