“Revitalizing the Blackbelt through Food, Music, Art, and Recreation”
Blackbelt Benefit Group (BBG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to creating, promoting, and sustaining initiatives that improve quality of life across Alabama’s Blackbelt region. Our mission is to help retain talented residents, attract new opportunities, and revitalize our communities through music, art, food, outdoor recreation, and meaningful community partnerships.
What was born from a love of place and hometown pride has grown into a nonprofit that has the ultimate goal of an energetic, revitalized Blackbelt that all people are proud to call home. Blackbelt Benefit Group began in 2009 when a group of friends held a Riboff to benefit the victims of a recent tornado. Since that time, we have used that can-do spirit to continue to make a positive mark on the place Blackbelt Benefit Group is so proud to call home.
Since its inception, BBG has contributed over $100,000 to our fellow non-profits. In 2019, 735 volunteer hours were logged working to improve the quality of life for those in our community, just a fraction of the nearly 6,000 hours contributed over the years. Our largest programming focus is encouraging a thriving downtown; using music, food, and art to bring people together. Last year alone over 700 attended the 8th Annual Alabama River Chili Cookoff. This event, which has raised over $70,000 for Dallas Counties’ non-profits, continues to be a community favorite that we are proud to host. 26 local and National level musicians graced our stage at Play Selma Music Hall in 2019. Through these acts, we celebrate the artistic culture of our area and provide top-notch entertainment options to those living in the Blackbelt.
We have recently been involved in partnerships with Main Street Marion and Montgomery Bicycle Club to host the Marion to Selma Bicycle Ride and Selma to Montgomery Bicycle Ride and raised funding to help with our partnership with the City of Selma to build off-road trails in the greenspaces surrounding Valley Creek in the heart of Selma.
