Amy Courts To Give Debut's Proceeds to Mocha Club

Amy Courts’ passionate message and unflinching honesty not only ring true through her music but also play out in her life.  With the release of her highly anticipated sophomore album These Cold And Rusted Lungs, which releases on July 29th, Courts will donate 10% of all artist proceeds to the African aid organization the Mocha Club.  Specifically, the donation will go towards the development the "Village of Hope" in Gulu Uganda, where nearly 500 'child mothers' can live in a safe community with shelter, a job training center, a medical facility, and a school for their children. These young women are called 'child mothers' because they were only children themselves when they were abducted, trained as fighters, and given as sex slaves to rebel soldiers in the LRA, a rebel paramilitary group in Northern Uganda.

“With the rapid increase in poverty, disease, abuse, and continued civil unrest in the developing countries of Africa, I've become increasingly aware of our responsibility to act on what we know,” shares Courts. “I believe the challenge to those with means is to aid those without, not out of benevolence or sacrifice, or because it's trendy to do so, but because it is our God-given responsibility as humans to care for those in need. As an artist with a voice and an audience, my personal responsibility widens from singing songs to inciting help for the fatherless, widow, and impoverished, lest my gift be wasted on vanity.”

Courts’ involvement with the Mocha Club began during the summer of 2007 after participating in an event that raised awareness of the reality in Africa. “I then began searching for an organization that would be able to use my voice - since, as an artist, I have a responsibility to do more than sing songs, but to speak for those who have no voice - to bring about change,” said Courts. “I chose Mocha Club because, by asking for just $7/month and relating it to something we all understand - the need for coffee! - they make change a real possibility. It doesn't take $30, $40, or $50 a month to make a REAL difference.”

"We have been thankful for Amy’s involvement with the Mocha Club,” said Missy Zahn, Artist Relationship Director for Mocha Club.  “She is using her platform to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.  Because of artists like Amy who are passionate about helping Africa, we are able to feed and educate children, provide clean water, and lay a foundation of hope for a brighter future."

The Mocha Club is an organization that centers around connecting our community with the African community.  For the small cost of $7 a month, equivalent to the cost of two mochas, a member can help support a project in Africa.  $7 in Africa can feed one person for a month, educate two children for one school term, save one person’s life from malaria, and provide clean water to seven Africans for one year.  The organization has several ongoing projects around Africa which enables donors to decide what their money will go towards.  For more information on The Mocha Club and how to get involved, please visit www.mochaclub.org. 

Produced by Neilson Hubbard (Garrison Starr, Matthew Ryan Matthew Perryman Jones) These Cold And Rusted Lungs ably takes on love, heartache, personal demons, and the concept of a Holy but still personal God. Though undeniably heavy and occasionally dark, the record’s message is ultimately one of abandoned hope.  For those in the midst of the constant struggle to die to self so love and faith can survive, comfort comes in knowing ‘these cold and rusted lungs’ weary from waves of lies can always be made to breathe; and a heart made plastic by past rejection and love lost can always be made real.