On April 18, the Jamaican Museum and Cultural Center (JMCC) officially launched its ambitious three-year fundraising campaign to build a permanent cultural institution celebrating Jamaican heritage in Atlanta, Georgia, opening the initiative with a community-focused virtual Zoom-A-Thon event. The project aims to accumulate $5 million in total donations to support the construction of the museum, which will find its home in Atlanta – a city widely recognized as the capital of the U.S. New South that is also home to one of the largest Jamaican diaspora communities in the country. In an exclusive interview with Observer Online, JMCC President Dr. Apollone Reid shared insights into the outcomes of the opening fundraising event and the organization’s long-term vision for the project. Reid noted that while overall turnout for the Zoom-A-Thon did not quite meet pre-event expectations, a shortfall widely attributed to a high-profile competing concert featuring reggae stars Maxi Priest and Beenie Man held nearby that same day, the energy and commitment among attendees remained undeniably strong. Participating guests were eager to contribute pledges, demonstrating their clear buy-in to the JMCC’s mission, and the event ultimately hit 80% of its initial donation targets. In total, the opening Zoom-A-Thon raised $4,000 in committed pledges and direct donations. The virtual event drew a diverse roster of prominent participants, including Oliver Mair, Jamaica’s Consul General to Miami; Dr. Garfield McCook, a sitting JMCC executive board member; Pastor Fidel Donaldson; and popular Jamaican singer Ian Sweetness. Once the full $5 million fundraising goal is reached, the JMCC will break ground on the new museum, which is designed to showcase the full breadth and depth of Jamaican culture across multiple sectors, spanning from iconic Jamaican music and visual arts to the nation’s rich political and social history. Even with the more modest than expected opening haul, Reid remains optimistic about the initiative’s trajectory over the coming three years. This Zoom-A-Thon marks only the first of many planned fundraising strategies that the organization will roll out to hit its target, Reid explained, adding that the participation of high-profile dignitaries, artists, entertainers and community leaders not only generated positive public visibility for the project but also confirmed broad cross-sector support for the mission of building a permanent Jamaican cultural home in Atlanta. The JMCC itself was first founded in September 2019, with a core mission to elevate and amplify the achievements of Jamaican people both in the diaspora and on the island. To date, the organization has advanced this mission primarily through its public interactive website, which now serves as a digital hub for Jamaican cultural content for audiences across the United States and beyond.