Contact: Nicole Vandenberg
206-447-1801



VOTE FOR CHANGE ARTISTS GIVE BACK TO COMMUNITIES

Funding Renewable Energy Sources

Seattle, WA -- Vote for Change artists announced today they will help fund several new small-scale solar energy and wind power plants in several of the states they toured through earlier this month.

"During the tour, the artists talked about how we could help support local organizations already doing good work in their communities around issues we all care about." said Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam. "We decided to focus on local projects that highlight opportunities for alternative energy technologies in an effort to demonstrate community-based solutions to our nation's reliance on oil."

In order to identify the best local organizations focusing on alternative energy projects, Vote For Change partnered with the Portland, Oregon-based Bonneville Environmental Foundation. They have identified the projects Vote For Change artists will support in this endeavor, and will help communities see these projects through to their completion.

Support for two of the projects in the states the Vote for Change tour traveled through earlier this month has already been confirmed. Several more will be identified over the next month.

WISCONSIN
The agencies of Family Centers in Madison, Wisconsin work to prevent child abuse by helping to strengthen families. As part of a facility renovation and expansion project that is currently underway, Family Centers will get a solar hot water system and a solar electric power system with the help of additional funding from Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy renewable energy program.

"We are thrilled to receive this support from the Vote for Change musicians," said Lucy Harr, President of Family Centers. " Their gift helps our current capital campaign and will lower our on going utility expenses which means more money is available to help children and their families.

FLORIDA
Palm Beach Central High School in Wellington, Florida, will have a solar powered disaster shelter system installed, with additional support from the Florida Solar Energy Center through Florida’s SunSmart Schools Program. School faculty will integrate the new solar power system into their teaching to show the importance of renewable energy to address economic development and reduced reliance on foreign oil.

“Given our recent experiences in Florida with catastrophic global weather events and record-setting oil prices, the timing of this project could not be more appropriate,” stated Jennifer Szaro, coordinator for the SunSmart Schools Program. “We are extremely grateful to the Vote for Change artists for their assistance.”

Vote for Change is a loose coalition of artists that put on concerts in 11 battleground states and the District of Columbia over the course of 15 days in early October. The Vote for Change Renewable Energy Project was spearheaded by Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam and his fiancé Liz Weber, a Portland/Seattle based environmental and green building consultant. The project is supported by the Vote For Change artists.

For more information contact: Tom Starrs, Bonneville Environmental Foundation,
503-248-1905, www.b-e-f.org.