Burning Man Supports Local Community Service Organizations

Black Rock City, LLC Donates Funds & Technology to the Northern Nevada Community

January 29, 2004 Reno, Nevada. – Black Rock City LLC, the organization that hosts the annual Burning Man event, has donated more than $32,750 in proceeds from ice sales at the 2003 event to community service organizations in Northern Nevada. “We are pleased to say that this year we are donating more funds than in prior years—and to more organizations,” said Marian Goodell, Director of Business & Communications.

“Donating proceeds from ice sales to local organizations is in line with Burning Man’s principles of fostering community and supporting the arts without turning to corporate sponsorship” said Larry Harvey, Founder and Executive Director of Burning Man. “Ice sales allow participants to sustain themselves in the desert for the week long event without burdening the local roads with trips into town. Moreover, local community service and artistic organizations benefit from the proceeds.”

This year Black Rock City, LLC is making donations to Friends of the Black Rock, Reno Crisis Center, Nevada Museum of Art, Nevada Outdoor School, Gerlach Medical Clinic, Gerlach High School, Greater Gerlach Improvement District (GGID), Gerlach Volunteer Fire Department, Gerlach Senior Citizens, Empire 4-H Club, Pershing County Chamber of Commerce, Pershing County School System and Lovelock Lion’s Club. Additionally, Black Rock City, LLC will be providing unlimited wireless Internet access for Gerlach residents in the near future.

For thirteen years, the Black Rock Desert outside of Reno, Nevada, has been home to the increasingly popular and influential Burning Man event. The annual art event, which began on a beach in San Francisco in 1986, has grown to attract more than 30,000 participants annually, from every state of the Union and twenty-two countries worldwide. Based on corporate accounting and participant survey data, the organization estimates that it contributes $10 million annually to Washoe County, including real estate taxes, vehicle and equipment rental, and the money that its participants spend on groceries, supplies and lodging on the way to and from the event. The organization also contributed over $600,000 in 2003 to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for land use of the area where the event is held.

For more information please contact:
Ray Allen, Executive Project Manager
Black Rock City, LLC
(415) 865-3800, ext. 137

ray(at)burningman(dot)com [para_end]