BW&BK; has received the following press release:

"Vans Warped Tour® is home to one of the industry’s best kept secrets: The Vans Warped Tour/Unite The United Non-profit Area. Over the last four years, this area has grown from just a few organizations, to an area supporting an average of 21 charitable and activism tents each day. That’s no small feat considering that adds up to 100 volunteers a day, with a combined footprint of about 150 square feet. That’s a lot of real estate to give away for free, but that is just what the Vans Warped Tour is about.

This year Unite the United, the foundation created by the producers of the tour, took the lead and coordinated efforts helping to raise in excess of $350,000 for charities nationwide. This number could stand alone, but what would a nonprofit area be if it were only about money?

Instead, this year set records across the board, with the Warped Eco Initiative collecting well over 40,000 lbs of recyclables, Music Saves Lives collecting more that 45,000 units of blood via Warped sponsored blood drives, FM World Charities screening 6,500 concert goers for skin cancer, and more than four tons of food and clothing being donated directly to local homeless shelters via the Punk Junk Donation drives held at the gates.

And as if 46 shows in 57 days weren’t enough activism, add in two clean-up and volunteer days. That’s right, even on days off, the VWT couldn’t get enough. The first volunteer day, in Cameron Parish/St. Charles, Louisiana , paired bands, sponsors and production staff with local organizations to help rebuild the homes and community centers for victims of recent hurricanes. The second day, in Monterrey Bay , California , found tour professionals picking up litter, scraping invasive, non-native algae off of boat docks, testing water samples and conducting site surveys to help better understand the problems facing our ocean sanctuaries.

It’s no easy task to imagine the impact this nonprofit area has had nationwide. With over 10 local organization a day collecting emails, petition signatures, donations and engaging fans with important social issues, it’s simply too big to put into numbers.

And I guess that’s a good thing, because shhh…it’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone.

Online reporting of this year’s efforts can be found at:

www.unitetheunited.org

www.warpedtour.com

www.warpedphotobooth.com

A reporting of the campaigns that were full tour efforts is as follows:

-- 11:11 AM raised $11,000 dollars and registered over 400 verified emails.
-- Amnesty Int. collected 6421 voter signatures for petitions.
-- Action for Animals raised $35,000 for future outreach, distributed 26,500 biodegradable bags, 22,000 vegan recipes and 8,000 promotional DVDs.
-- Boarding for Breast Cancer raised $4,115, 4,075 breast exam shower cards were taken and 3,200 health surveys were completed.
-- Declare Yourself registered 3,500 first time voters.
-- Invisible Children raised $45,000 dollars and registered 2,300 people for their email list.
-- Music Saves Lives logged 45,000 blood donations nationwide, registered 5814 bone marrow donors (including 2835 bone marrow donors at shows).
-- TWLOHA raised $110,000 for their general fund, gathered 1,000 surveys for research, added 30,000 MySpace friends.
-- Lokahi collected 3000 signatures for petitions supporting Oxfam, ONE and FACE Aids.
-- Unite the United gathered 5001 unique emails, 7,000+ pictures taken, over $125,000 raised via ticket sales for camp Hollywood Heart.
-- Warped Eco Initiative 40,000 lbs of recyclables collected, solar averaged 1.2 kwh to sustain nonprofit area.
-- Rock for Health gathered 5,250 registrations/signatures, raised over $5,000.
-- Punk Junk donated $23,695 to local shelters, roughly 4 tons of food collected.
-- FM World Charities screened 6,500+ people for skin cancer, raised over $1,000 in unsolicited donations.

In addition to our on-tour activities, Unite The United runs charity auctions on eBay raising funds to support grass roots nonprofit organizations.

Please add these upcoming fundraisers to your calendar .

This summer alone, Music Saves Lives blood drives raised over 45,000 blood donations nationwide. To support Music Saves Lives in their lifesaving efforts, Unite The United will be holding the following auctions on eBay.

Running October 8 – October 15, 2008: bid on one of a kind, custom, hand painted Gibson Guitars autographed by Katy Perry and Jack’s Mannequin.

On November 1, the auction begins for two more hand painted Gibson Guitars autographed by Reel Big Fish and Bouncing Souls.

Please click on the link above or go to www.musicsaveslives.com/gibson. For more information on Unite The United, please contact:unitetheunited@gmail.com."