Burners Without Borders Chicago

07/27/2025

🌳🔥 FIELD DAY IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! 🔥🌳
Come play, connect, and co-create with us at Bunker Hill #5 — we’re here until sundown with games, art, music, snacks, teach-ins, and a whole lotta heart.

🧺 BYO potluck dish or cooler
🎲 Bring a game or join one (bocce! tug-o-war! dodgeball!)
📚 Stop by the Cleaver Cats table for pet care tips, coloring books, and info on free vet services
📋 Or just wander and vibe — all are welcome who come correct 💜

📍 Location: Bunker Hill Picnic Grove #5
📄 FAQ & Details: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VQ8oKW0hajKTcyvjBmjipkztXc_VVOquomT4Z8F21fU/edit
🧾 Volunteer or contribute something today?
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScv1N8LACu8jz6hNut8PpqUAUoBM2aInEHih2fHEIj9Q-JhnQ/viewform
📣 Facebook Event Page: https://fb.me/1OaHuEIEs5Uj74l
🖼 Flyer: https://imgur.com/a/UZm4YNO

🔥 The July Newsletter Just Dropped
Catch up on everything BWB Chicago has been stirring:
https://discord.com/channels/1274222959099252810/1399074881244631160

🎡 Equity Concourse launched at Lakes of Fire 2025 last week!
A carnival-style interactive art piece tackling race, privilege, and belonging — funded by the Civic Ignition Grant and featured in the BWB International Newsletter.

🐱 Cleaver Cats is tabling all summer
This animal care crew has supported 18+ families and 7 cats this season with free or low-cost vet care, spay/neuter services, and hands-on advocacy.
Want to help with community outreach or building outdoor shelters? Swing by their table at Field Day or message us!

🎭 WB26 Volunteer Signups are open
Help us build the next Winter Ball from the ground up.
✨ Sign up: https://forms.gle/39P3sudgFrYX45fNA

🎨 Got a theme idea for Winter Ball 2026?
Submit yours here: https://forms.gle/eBM8e4EGvNQpQ73A8

💡 Have your own community project brewing?
Submit a proposal: https://forms.gle/vBiZvBKVM2MyKYM36

🎧 Stay connected year-round and help shape what’s next:
💬 Join our Discord (never expires): https://discord.gg/prpuEV3eG3

🖤 From field to fire, from art to action — let’s build together.

07/13/2025

🌞 Save the Date: FIELD DAY – Sunday, July 27, Bunker Hill #5

Games, Activities, Music, Potluck, Tabling, Sunshine, Forest, River, Pavilion, Volunteer Matchmaking, Joy, Community.

Want to bring your project or group activity? Let’s talk; this is all Stone Soup collab. Volunteer form url is below.

Got questions, here's the handy Field Day Guide & FAQ url, too.

Plus a purty flyer you can share with others to paint a picture of what we'll be up to.

Field Day Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VQ8oKW0hajKTcyvjBmjipkztXc_VVOquomT4Z8F21fU/edit?usp=sharing

Field Day Volunteer Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScv1N8LACu8jz6hNut8PpqUAUoBM2aInEHih2fHEIj9Q-JhnQ/viewform

Field Day FB Event Link:
https://fb.me/1OaHuEIEs5Uj74l

07/13/2025

06/17/2025

🗳️ Civic Ignition 2025 — We Have a Grant Recipient
Some decisions are complicated. This one was clear.
The votes are in, the conversations were honest, and the learning was real.

After our first-ever Civic Ignition Grant Workshop, we’re proud to announce that the $1,500 grant has been awarded to:
💥 EQUITY CONCOURSE 💥

Through collective reflection, Equity Concourse emerged with the highest level of support. And once you know their work, it’s not hard to see why.

This wasn’t a simple pick—it was a full-body yes.
To their clarity.
To their care.
To their deep-rooted commitment to community and liberation.

Equity Concourse is building real infrastructure for change—not in theory, but in practice—tools rooted in cultural strategy, direct action, and healing justice.

Built by and for Black and Brown people, they’re weaving those tools into ways for communities to navigate systems of harm while reclaiming space, power, and breath.

They’re not asking permission.
They’re carving pathways.
This isn’t charity. This is self-determination.
They didn’t need this grant to be valid.
They’re already in motion.
This grant is just a boost—just a little more fuel for something already alive and pulsing.
They’re not waiting for the world to catch up—they’re building what it needs.

💚 What’s Next
🗓️ Monday, June 30 – Chapter Meeting (Virtual)
Let’s reflect, reconnect, and imagine what comes next.
7:00–8:30pm CT | Google Meet link coming soon

🌞 Save the Date: FIELD DAY – Sunday, July 27
More details coming soon. Just know... it’s gonna be good.
Tabling, sunshine, joy, community.
Want to bring your project? Let’s talk.

We’re also continuing to support all three applicants through community features, volunteer matchmaking, and a presence at Field Day.

And to the folks who helped make the workshop possible—especially Good Stuff Eats, Sabrina, Cappy, project co-lead + donations logistics, and Ryn Ross, who lovingly fed the room—we see you. Your care held the shape of this gathering more than you know.
To CynCat and the entire behind-the-scenes team who brought grounding presence and real energetic support—your ability to hold space didn’t go unnoticed.
And to everyone who came, participated, voted, asked hard questions, or simply showed up with joy and a desire to make our corner of the world a little more beautiful: we thank you. You made this real.

This was our first run at something new. It was full of purpose, joy, and honest connection—and it’s shaping the path ahead.
This was a bold beginning.
It was real, and we’re grateful.
Let’s keep going.
We’re not done. We’re just in motion.
💥 EQUITY CONCOURSE 💥
on Instagram

05/27/2025

🔥 TOMORROW. Civic energy meets grassroots brilliance.

We’re gathering to decide which idea gets a $1500 mini-grant—and you get to be part of the action. No judges. No gatekeepers. Just community, curiosity, and a lil’ chaos in the best way possible.

✨ 11 applicants
✨ 1 grant
✨ All of us deciding together

📍 Midwest Coast Brewing Co
🗓️ Wednesday, May 28
🕔 Doors at 5p | Workshop runs 5:30–9p
🆓 Free to attend!

💥 RSVP now: https://facebook.com/events/s/civic-ignition-grant-workshop/1219885962319825/

05/26/2025

📣 BWB Chicago Chapter Meeting – Tonight at 7PM!

We’re gathering tonight to lock in final plans for our Civic Ignition Grant Workshop (happening this Wednesday!), brainstorm for Winter Ball 26, and touch base on Field Day & the fundraiser for the Chicago Abortion Fund.

Come through if you’ve got energy to build, brainstorm, or just want to stay plugged in.
7:00–8:30PM CST | BWB Chicago Monthly Chapter Meeting
Monday, May 26 · 7:00 – 8:30pm
Time zone: America/Chicago
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/gdm-xztg-kuv
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 281-617-1239‬ PIN: ‪652 324 519‬ #
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/gdm-xztg-kuv?pin=9262938726610

Real-time meetings by Google. Using your browser, share your video, desktop, and presentations with teammates and customers.

05/22/2025

Hello Human Dynamos!

Thanks for making Chicago Burners Without Burners’ Winter Ball such a fantastic experience for you, yours, and ours collectively. Next up!? You helped raise the money, and now you get to help decide what happens with it! We are super-stoked for next week’s Civic Ignition Grant Workshop, and we wanted to invite you to join us in doing tha thang! We need sound/tecinically minded people, note-takers, timekeepers, and stack-keepers for speaking order.
Someone to print out the applications & Conflict of Interest agreements.
If you think you can help, go here: https://tinyurl.com/mrfdsse6

There’ll be snacks. There’ll be warmth.
There’ll be moments that remind us why this work matters.

HERE’S THE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS!
5:00 – 5:30 PM: Reception & Social Half-Hour
Light snacks and drinks

5:30–5:40 PM: Welcome & Workshop Overview
Hosted by Tekena or Cap

5:40–6:10 PM:
Verbal only project pitches (12 applicants)

6:10–6:50 PM: World Café
2 rounds of small group discussions
(5 min. transition between them)

6:50–8:30 PM: Community Collaboration Hour
Follow-up conversations,
Consensus-building discussions

8:30 P.M.
Closing words + appreciations,
Consensus awards shared aloud

9:00 P.M.
Clean-up and strike

We hope you can make it and be part of this process. Once again, here is the volunteer form. https://tinyurl.com/mrfdsse6

This form is for volunteers or potential volunteers who want to help with the Civic Ignition Grant Workshop event on May 28th, at Midwest Coast Brewery. 2137 W. Walnut in Chicago

05/16/2025

We’re building something different.

Not a competition.
Not a panel.
Not a popularity contest.

🔥 Civic Ignition Grant Workshop
📅 Wednesday, May 28
🕔 5–9 PM
📍 Midwest Coast Brewing Co. – 2137 W Walnut St, Chicago

Twelve people are showing up with bold, beautiful ideas for healing, art, justice, and community care.

No judges. No gatekeepers.
Just us—listening, reflecting, and deciding together what we want to grow.

This is about:
💛 Collaboration over control
🧠 Consensus over competition
🤝 Community choosing its own future

If you’ve been craving something real—if you’ve been wondering where your voice fits in—this is the room.

There’ll be snacks. There’ll be warmth.
There’ll be moments that remind us why this work matters.

✅ RSVP by clicking “Going” here: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AYPe9PBTv/
📣 Share the event. Tag your people.
Let’s ignite something honest and hopeful. Together.

04/28/2025

Our Next Chapter Starts Tonight.

We’re turning the page and starting something new! Join us for the very first BWB Chicago Monthly Chapter Meeting — a space for connection, collaboration, and action.
When: Tonight, Monday, April 28 | 7–9 PM CT
Where: Google Meet (link below!)
Why: Because change starts with us. Let’s build this change together.

Google Meet link: https://meet.google.com/nwo-dzar-rss

04/23/2025

Thanks for making Winter Ball 2025 one to remember.

To all who gave, volunteered, donated, attended, danced, and contributed in countless ways—thank you. BWB Chicago's 10th Annual Winter Ball on February 8th was an evening to remember, made magical by your generosity.

Thanks to your support, we’re thrilled to share that funds raised from Winter Ball are powering our very first Civic Ignition Grant Workshop!

Grant applications closed on April 15—huge thanks to everyone who applied.

Now, we’re gearing up for the main event:
Civic Ignition Workshop
Wednesday, May 28 | 5–8PM
Midwest Coast Brewing Co.
(last Wednesday in May)

Here, you'll help decide which community projects get funded. Come for the bites, stay to ignite—we’ll have light snacks available before presentations begin!

Got thoughts on Winter Ball?
Help us grow—tell us what lit you up, what left you flat, and what magic you’re hoping for next.
https://forms.gle/VtYcBwMgir2QC51R9

Got a project, idea, or creation you want to bring to life with BWB’s support?
Our Project Submission Form is open—tell us about yourself, your vision, and the kind of support you need. We’ll do our best to rally behind it.

When you submit a project to BWB Chicago, you’re tapping into a wider web of support.
We can help amplify your idea through our local, national, and global networks—getting it seen, heard, and felt by more people.
Need materials? We’ll do our best to help source what you need—whether it’s snacks and supplies, art tools, or building goods.
Need hands? We’ll help gather the people and energy to move your project from dream to reality.
https://forms.gle/qyasr4XMk8ManJ7p7

Want to stay connected and get more involved?
Join our new BWB Chicago Discord server—our hub for mutual aid, civic action, resource sharing, and creative collaboration.
https://discord.gg/3ce6EPyu
Discord invite links expire after 7 days—just let us know if you need a fresh one!

We also host open monthly Chapter Meetings on the last Monday of every month at 7PM. Everyone’s welcome. Bring your ideas, your curiosity, your hands—we’re building together.

Next meeting: Monday, April 28 at 7PM

Interested in helping bring the Civic Ignition Grant Program to life?
We’d love your support. Reach out and we’ll get you plugged in—with this and so much more we’ve got up our sleeves.

Together, we show up.
Together, we build.
Together, we are community.

04/17/2025

The world continues to shift at an accelerating pace. We stand at an inflection point—one that challenges us to ask: What Future Now? What does the future hold for our communities, our environment, our civic institutions, and our relationships with both the natural and technological worlds?