Raised over $27K! Thank you!

WOW! Because of the incredible support from so many of you, we crushed our End of 2021 Fundraising Goal! Woot Woot!

Thank you for choosing Decatur Makers! Thank you for believing in our mission! Every dollar truly made a difference in helping us raise over $27,000!

2022 is off to an inspiring start and we’re excited you joined us in leveraging the power of making to continue changing lives this coming year.

Make On!

#decaturga #nonprofit #makerspace #fundraisinggoals #makersgonnamake #education #economicdevelopment #community #thankyou #donors #supporters #sendinglove

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Earlier Post on Dec 10, 2021:

Join our End-of-2021 Campaign: Support More Making in 2022!

During these unprecedented times, Decatur Makers has a vital role to play and our mission is particularly important: empowering a community of builders, creatives, and learners. And you can continue to help us make a difference.

In 2021, we finally were able to reopen 24/7 to our members and to host in-person events open to the public! Woot Woot!

Making makes us feel more hopeful, inspired and empowered! We hope you feel it.

And we’d really appreciate your support to help others feel it too.

Would you consider making a donation to support our End-of-Year 2021 fundraising campaign and help empower people through making?

We’re running our campaign through the end of 2021 with a goal of raising $20,000 by December 31 (oh, what a Happy 2022 it will be!) A donation in any amount would be greatly appreciated! Truly, we’ll be dancing and singing over here!

The focus of our campaign is getting more people of all ages creating and learning by building and making. But we’re not just about the making of things, we’re about making a difference. Making fosters life-changing experiences where kids and adults find passions, learn hard skills, and develop and strengthen the soft skills of problem-solving and critical thinking. This type of success positively impacts people of all ages by empowering them in all areas of their life.

 You can make a difference! 

We’ve expanded our community projects that support the larger Atlanta community during the pandemic:

1. We built two Little Free Pantries for high school students in the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Youth Food Justice Internship program to address food security challenges in their community,
2. We partnered with the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights group to support their Art for the People project to educate the community and fight anti-racism,
3. We designed and built 586 free desks for metro-Atlanta kids in need to support their academic success as they attended school virtually during the pandemic.
4. We supported the City of Decatur’s inaugural Decatur Retail Incubation Program (D.R.I.P.) businesses with building their outdoor sign.

And we’re back to offering and growing our regular in-person programs including those supporting metro-Atlanta area youth and K12 teachers:

• Our makerspace is Fully Open with members having 24/7 access and we’re taking on new members,
• Kicking off and growing our in-person workshops and equipment classes,
• Rebooting our free, in-person monthly Family Build Nights for all elementary school aged kids and their families with 2-3 hands-on projects.
• Continuing our partnership programming with the Drew Charter School and their Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) grant by providing teacher professional development for coding and other maker-related workshops,
• Hosted our Making Spaces teacher professional development pilot program working with 2 local schools and libraries in the Dekalb Country Library System supporting their maker-led STEAM education programming for two years, 
• Honored to be a community partner with the Star After School Program at the Decatur Housing Authority, offering youth Summer Camp workshops,
• Excited to be a community partner with NY Hall of Science and the GBH in Boston, hosting their Design Squad Design Thinking workshops for kids aged 8-11 years old and their families.

You can see we are stretching ourselves. We have BIG DREAMS and could use a little help to empower the people of all ages who are served by our organization.

It’s our community of members who are the heart of what we do as they share their skills and expertise ranging from engineering, art, design, coding, woodworking, metal working, textiles, science, 3D printing, and so much more. Throw in the physical tools and equipment needed to make stuff all under one roof, and you have the people and place to change people’s lives!

Wondering how your donation (no amount too small!) would make a difference?

• $10 would buy an Arduino Gemma (a mini wearable microcontroller)
• $25 would buy 1 Kg PLA filament for 3D printing
• $50 would sponsor the kit materials for one of our Family Build Nights
• $100 would buy a nice quality cordless drill
• $300 would sponsor the materials for 6 months of Outreach with one of our partner organizations who support underserved youth,
• $648 would sponsor two needs-based 12 month membership scholarships with all the benefits,
• $1000 would sponsor a school in need in for 1-year in our Making Spaces Teacher Professional Development program,
• $10,000 would buy a stronger laser cutter, useful for many of our entrepreneurs,
• $75,000 would buy a full-building air filtration system (can’t hurt to ask, right?)

The positive impact that making has on kids and adults is life-changing! That’s why we’re asking for your support.

Click here to make a donation

Decatur Makers is more than a makerspace, it’s a community-based organization of creative people that directly helps address educational needs, builds community, and fosters economic opportunities for people of all ages, skill sets, and backgrounds.

Thank you for your support!