Giving Tuesday 2025: Drive the Music Home
A nonprofit fundraiser supporting
We Love Buford Highway, Inc.Support safe rides for young musicians of the Buford Highway corridor's orchestra program.
$2,395
raised by 25 people
$5,000 goal
New update
Did you know?
Region demographics: DeKalb County School District’s Region I (Cross Keys cluster) serves over 80% economically disadvantaged students, with a high concentration of immigrant households (85–95% Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and other immigrant backgrounds in feeder schools like Cary Reynolds ES, Dresden ES, Montclair ES, Woodward ES, Sequoyah MS, and Cross Keys HS).
Car access: According to Census data, 23–30% of households in the Buford Highway corridor do not have access to a vehicle. For many, one family car serves multiple wage earners.
Public transit gap: MARTA bus routes along Buford Highway are frequent, but they do not reliably connect to neighborhood streets or schools meaning younger students often face unsafe walks across state routes and high-traffic intersections after dark.
Barrier to extracurriculars: Studies show that students from low-income households are twice as likely to be excluded from after-school and arts programming due to lack of transportation, even when tuition or program fees are free.
Equity impact: Extracurriculars like music programs increase graduation rates, college enrollment, and socio-emotional resilience. At Cross Keys HS, where graduation rates trail the state average, access to programs like BHOP can be life-changing but only if students can physically get there.
This year, We Love Buford Highway is dedicating Giving Tuesday to raising funds towards a full year of transportation for families in our Buford Highway Orchestra Program (BHOP). Twice a week, more than 55 young musicians gather after school to practice and perform together. But for many immigrant and low-income families, the greatest challenge isn’t paying for instruments, it’s getting to rehearsal safely, and making it home.
Transportation is the #1 barrier to access for students along the Buford Highway corridor, where families often juggle multiple jobs, limited car access, and inconsistent transit options. By covering the cost of local transportation services, you make sure every student who wants to learn music can show up without their families having to choose between safety, work, and opportunity.
With your support, we can keep our students in harmony all year long.