NILES — As country artist Justin McCormick strums and sings at 6 p.m. Thursday during the second Niles Summer Concert Series of the season, a task force will be raising awareness of human trafficking in southwest Michigan.

The free concert series occurs every Thursday summer evening at Riverfront Park. Musical artists performing pair up with a local nonprofit that then raises awareness of or money for its cause at the event.

McCormick, a South Bend native, chose to partner with the Southwest Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force. He wanted to find a nonprofit that helped prevent bullying, an act he experienced during grade school. While he could not find a nonprofit only for bullying prevention, he found that those who are trafficked can also be bullied in school.

The trafficking task force is a group of volunteers from various groups, from law enforcement to religious institutions. For about the past seven years, it has sought to educate others about the misconceptions and realities of trafficking in Van Buren, Cass and Berrien counties.

“This is our first time doing the summer concert event, so we’re excited about that. It’s a new way to connect with people with a different means,” said Cathy Knauf, the task force’s founder.

To share information, the task force has a social media presence and have hosted presentations. The group, though, is most well-known for its community partnerships, like the summer concert series.

The task force was the first of its kind to partner with a winery to create a wine from which partial proceeds are donated to the group, said Knauf.

It is also one of the first task forces to take photos of the room layouts of every hotel in Berrien County. This way, when pictures for human trafficking that depict hotel rooms are found, officers can identify where the trafficking is occurring.

Educating members of work fields that human trafficking connects to is another component of the nonprofit’s programming. It has hosted free education sessions for hospitality staff, healthcare employees and faculty of educational institutions.

It has also hosted community events of its own, from plant sales to yoga classes.

Knauf said one of the most common misconceptions of human trafficking is that it occurs in a “snatch-and-grab” method. She said internet stories of men and women waiting in parking lots for victims are not usually how trafficking occurs.

“Usually, a trafficker is more of a groomer, and they’re grooming them for quite some time,” she said. “It’s often through the internet, gaming and social media or where kids are hanging out, like the mall and sporting events.”

McCormick is happy to partner with the nonprofit, he said.

His gig this Thursday is part of a multi-state tour he has taken on since signing Nashville-based music development company, PCG Universal, last year.

The Niles stop is part of a tour to promote his upcoming album, and much of his setlist at the riverfront concert will be original songs from the record. While the album won’t be released digitally for a few months, he said physical copies will be available for purchase at the event.

The 17-year-old said he has been around music almost all his life.

“Growing up, my grandpa played steel guitar in a local band,” he said. “So, when I was really little, when I started being able to talk, he’d bring me in his basement, and we’d have jam sessions. That’s really got my introduction to music.”

McCormick’s website said he went from a Michiana musician to one with over 70,000 social media followers. He opened for country artist Dylan Scott Saturday in Kansas and will be opening for Rodney Adkins later this summer.

McCormick said he is happy to perform in his hometown area.

“It’s always great to do a show near my hometown,” he said. “There will probably be a lot of family out in the crowd.”

The artist is especially excited to play his song, “Bentley, Paisley, Chesney,” for the concert series. He was able to have his grandfather play the steel guitar for the recording.