Each year the Grady Ambassadors are given the option to organize an event for a local charity.  After a major fundraising event fell through for Girls Rock, the Grady Ambassadors came forward to fill the void, according to the founder and director of Girls Rock Athens, Calley Payne.

Girls Rock Camp Athens is a summer camp program that seeks to aid in female empowerment through music. A benefit concert, Rock it Out, will be held at the 40 Watt tonight to raise money to help empower young girls through music.

▲ Singer/songwriter Allison Weiss poses with a keyboard in downtown Athens on January 6, 2009. Weiss and her band perform at the 40 Watt Club in Athens tonight. Photo by: Jim Diffly

“It was a great place for us to step in,” said Lizzy Nephews, a Grady Ambassador. “With the Grady name we knew we could get support on campus.”

Money raised at the benefit concert will go toward camp operations, financial aid and partial scholarships for girls who need a program like this but can’t afford it.

“In a week at camp, girls learn an instrument they may have never touched before,” Payne said.

Then the girls form bands, write an original song and perform. There are also body image workshops to encourage healthy self-esteem and an all-female staff to mentor confidence and pride.

Payne founded the Athens camp after working for the Atlanta camp in its first year of operation. She felt that Athens — known for its music — was ideal for a similar program.

There were existing co-ed camps, but the structure of Girls Rock is different and makes girls more comfortable.

Allison Weiss, who is headlining the Rock it Out concert, is a friend of Payne’s and has always been interested in helping out in some way.

“I have a personal feeling that young girls are not encouraged to learn to play music,” Weiss said. “It’s like, what do we get the girls for Christmas? Barbies. A boy? A guitar. I think programs like this could change that.”

When the Grady Ambassadors were looking for bands to perform, they wanted names people would recognize and bands that would support the cause, Nephews said.

“Allison is perfect name for it,” Nephews said, “Her life is music.”

Weiss enjoys playing benefits for causes she supports and believes in.

“Sometimes causes need a little help from musicians to spread the word,” she said.

What: A concert benefitting girls rock featuring Allison Weiss, The Orkids, the Incendiaries and Creepy.

When: 9 tonight

Where: 40 Watt

Price: $5 in advance, $7 at the door