Black Rock Solar

A belate, but very heartfelt, thank you to the incredibly generous Reno/Tahoe community, which turned out for our SOLARstice fundraiser for the Lovelock School on June 21st.  We’ve been incredibly busy for the last week and just didn’t get around to posting the photos and results.

Thanks to everyone who participated ( and there were so many: Great Basin Brewing, the City of Reno, Controlled Burn, West Street Market, the folks from NV Energy, Polly Ester’s,  Kate Cotter, Tyler Stafford, Leroy Viril…the list goes on ) more than 100 people turned out and we raised more than $1,500 for our project for the Lovelock Elementary School.

Here’s a few snapshots:

Here’s a tip: when selling raffle and drink tickets, make sure you’re getting a 4 year old in butterfly wings to make the pitch.

The performers from Controlled Burn show off their stuff.

Speaking of, how’s it going in Lovelock? We’ll have more news later this week, but here’s a little snapshot:

You’re looking at the students of Lovelock High School putting the last of a half dozen crates of panels into place!  The students showed up unannounced with their teacher and some school officials asking how they could help, and we had just the thing for them to do.

Again, many thanks to all who contributed from the Reno area, and everyone from around the world who’s been chipping in to make this project a reality.

We’ve raised over $7,000 towards our goal of $20,000 to make this gift project possible. Thanks to all our supporters, in this case truly every dollar counts!

ANNOUNCING SOLARSTICE 2009, A FUNDRAISER FOR BLACK ROCK SOLAR AND THE PERSHING COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT!

Black Rock Solar, the City of Reno, and the West Street Market present Solarstice 2009. Sunday, June 21, 2009, 7PM-10PM, at the West Street Market! This is a great opportunity to connect with friends and the Burning Man community, listen to some great music, drink a beverage of your choice, and generally chill out from the Big Bounce and Dada Motel, all the while supporting Black Rock Solar and the Pershing County School District- on the longest day of the year.

This event will feature performances by Kate Cotter, Tyler Stafford, Leroy Virgil, and Controlled Burn; a raffle with many fabulous prizes including TWO BURNING MAN TICKETS, beer supplied by Great Basin Brewing, and food and refreshment from the fabulous vendors in the West Street Market.

Black Rock Solar is a non-profit 501(c)(3) in the business of gifting solar power to schools and non-profits to marginalized and rural communities. As you drive to the Black Rock Desert, you drive past something in excess of 100 kW of solar generation facility installed by Black Rock Solar. To date, we have installed in excess of 300kW of solar generation capacity in Northern Nevada, saving schools and non-profits well over one million dollars.

The Pershing County School District has been hit very hard by budget cuts. Of approximately 40 teachers, 6 have been laid off in the past year. Black Rock Solar has raised about 90% of the resources needed to build a 50kW solar array, which will save the PCSD approximately $11,000.00 per year (at today’s rates!), and all at no cost to them.  But we’re still about $15,000 short of what we need to make this project happen!

Let’s show our broader community in Northern Nevada that we know how to affect creative and positive change, and have a great time while doing it!

HAVE A GREAT TIME DOING SOMETHING TO STOP GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!

West Street Market is at 148 West, in Reno, NV:

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