Our mission remains clear and constant: Leverage the power of music to bring together community and fight melanoma through awareness, education, prevention, and charitable support for research.

​

Jam For Cam was founded in the fall of 2018 in honor of Cameron Fearon, a University of Georgia student and Atlanta native who quietly battled melanoma from the time he was diagnosed in his early teens until he passed away at the age 19 in August of 2018.

 

Throughout his fight with cancer, Cameron lived with infectious joy - embracing Athens, his friends, live music, and every moment of his early college life. In the months before he passed, Cam and his friends had already begun planning a battle-of-the-bands event to showcase Athens’ vibrant college music scene in an effort to raise money for charity in a bold, new, creative way on campus. After Cameron passed, his friends brought that exact vision to life but this time as a way to raise money and awareness for the same deadly disease that took their friends life a few weeks before; launching the event as Jam For Cam in the fall of 2018 and incorporating the organization as a 501(c)3 shortly thereafter. Focusing every effort on raising awareness and funds to fight melanoma.

 

What began as one night of music in a front lawn for a great cause has quickly grown into one of the largest and most impactful college-town music festivals in the country. Over the past eight years, Jam For Cam has welcomed more than 40,000 attendees, and raised over $1.4 Million for charity, all while using the organization and event's platform to educate and create awareness around melanoma.

 

In 2025, the festival moved from a local brewery to Downtown Athens and debuted 'Jam In The Streets' - the first large-scale, concert-style event the city of Athens has hosted since Widespread Panic's album release party in 1998. Jam In The Streets is now Jam For Cam’s flagship annual event.

 

Our two-pronged approach:

• Drive awareness to educate on early detection, preventative efforts and help identify locations to get your skin checked while increasing the reach of resources for students and young adults to better protect themselves. 

• Raise money for both Melanoma and Cancer Research Organizations that are on the front lines of developing potential cures and new research.

​

​In alignment with our community-focused mission, Jam For Cam allocates a small portion of our fundraising each year to two additional beneficiaries:

• A rotating Athens-based charity, selected annually, to support meaningful local impact.

• Scholarships to Camp Carolina, a boys summer camp in North Carolina that Cameron attended and that played a formative role in his life

​

As we prepare for our eighth year, we are grateful for the momentum and invite you to join us at the next Jam In The Streets on March 27th and 28th, 2026 - whether that is with your attendance, partnership, or financial support. Please consider making a donation to help us continue to drive melanoma awareness, prevention, and early detection efforts across our community.

​