Burning Man Donations For 2007

Black Rock City LLC., donates 37% more than last year to community service and art organizations.

February 19, 2008, Reno, Nevada – When the Burning Man event started selling ice and donating the proceeds, no one anticipated those donations would contiunue and increase each and every year. But since 2003, Black Rock City, LLC, the organization that hosts the annual Burning Man event, has donated nearly $400,000 in proceeds from ice sales at the event to various charitable, art and service organizations in Northern Nevada and the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 2007 alone BRC donated almost $130,000. That amount is 37% more than what Burning Man donated last year and includes donations to even more charities than received support in previous years. “Each year we grow as an event and as an organization which allows us to become an agent of change in the realm of community outreach,” said Larry Harvey, Executive Director and Founder of Burning Man. “Programs such as our ice donation program have been supplemented by other, even farther reaching programs such as, Burner’s Without Borders and Black Rock Solar.”

In December of 2007 Black Rock Solar with MMA Renewable Ventures donated solar power arrays to both the Pershing General Hospital in Lovelock, Nevada and Gerlach High School in Gerlach, Nevada. The installations, which included the costly set-up and installation of the photovoltaic solar panels, will offset a significant portion of their total power needs, as well as providing tax rebates through the SolarGenerations program established by the Nevada State Legislature in 2003 to encourage Nevadans to install solar energy.

Each year Burners Without Borders collects lumber from theme camps and art installations on the playa and donates the materials to the Habitat For Humanity in Reno. According to the Habitat For Humanity the donation they received from Burners in 2007 was the largest they have ever received.

Additionally Burning Man’s Recycle Camp donates the proceeds of all aluminum cans collected at the Burning Man event to the Gerlach High School Student Council.

“Our ability to support our neighbors and our community is a testament to real-world application of the ideals of gift-giving, communal support and civic responsibility” said Marian Goodell, Director of Business, Communications and the Department of Public Works for Burning Man.

Ice Sales donation recipients include: Nevada Museum of Art, Friend’s of the Black Rock; Nevada Outdoor School; Reno Crisis Call Center; Gerlach Medical Clinic; Empire 4-H Club; Gerlach Volunteer Fire Department; Gerlach High School; Gerlach General Improvement District (GGID); Gerlach-Empire Senior Citizens Palace, Marzen House Museum; Pershing County Arts Council; Pershing County Domestic Violence Intervention; Pershing General Hospital & Nursing Care; Pershing County Friends of the Library; Pershing County Humane Society; Pershing County Community Center; Pershing County; Lovelock Boy Scouts Association; Lovelock Little League Association; Lovelock Special Olympics; Lovelock Chamber of Commerce; Lovelock Frontier Days; Lovelock Lion’s Club; Kids, Horses & Rodeos; the Close Up Foundation; National History Day; Project Graduation; the Eagle Scholarship; Black Rock Arts Foundation; the Crucible; Leave No Trace/NOLS; Epic Arts and Thick Description.

For 17 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 close to 40,000 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 significantly to the northern Nevada economy through permits, taxes, rentals and the money that its participants spend on groceries, supplies and lodging on the way to and from the event.  [para_end].

About the author: Will Chase

Will Chase

Will Chase is Burning Man's former Minister of Propaganda, working on global communications strategy. He was the editor-in-chief for the Jackrabbit Speaks newsletter and the Burning Man Journal, and content manager for Burning Man’s web properties. He also oversaw the ePlaya BBS and Burning Man’s social media presence. Will first attended Burning Man in 2001. He volunteered as the Operations Manager for the ARTery (Black Rock City’s art HQ) and was on the Burning Man Art Council from 2003-2008. He was Web Team Project Manager and Webmaster from 2004 until he transitioned to the Communications Department in 2009.