Burners Without Borders – Sandy Relief

Burners Without Borders is a grassroots volunteer organization that addresses needs where gaps exist in current cultural and societal systems. In our work following Hurricane Sandy, we are committed to speeding up the recovery any way we can. As a small group with low overhead that can adapt quickly to changing circumstance, we can help where help is needed and avoid getting tied down by red tape.

In our work we are collaborative, creative, and efficient. Our primary focus is large debris removal with heavy machinary at no charge. We work in communities that are being forgotten by the system; where people are without flood insurance and neither the people nor the government can afford large scale debris removal services. Our secondary focus is cleaning up public parks and other public spaces. We spread the Burning Man ethos of gifting, community, leave no trace, radical inclusion, and radical self reliance through including burners and non-burners in these clean up efforts. When the most efficient way to help is connecting volunteers with other organizations in need, we will do so. We do not get emotionally involved in taking ownership for all of our efforts, we want everyone to pitch in and help.

Why do we do this? Every summer Burning Man participants (aka Burners) meet in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada to celebrate the power of community, honor the importance of art, and enjoy the immediacy of experience. Then we leave – without a trace of our having been there. That experience and those values don’t get left behind in the desert. They inform who we are, and how we interact with the larger world around us. BWB is a manifestation of what can happen when we take our values off the playa and out into the rest of the world. Tax deductible donations can be made via our fiscal sponsor, the Burning Man Project Here.  Just let them know it’s for BWB.