Geek Fair Press Release

For Immediate Release

What: GEEK FAIR FIVE! A Community Street Party

Where: Free Geek, 1731 SE 10th Avenue, Portland.

When: Saturday, July 16th 2005 – 1p to 7p

Portland, Oregon – On Saturday, July 16, Free Geek will celebrate 5 years of operating the Community Technology Center with a Street Party and Fund Raiser. Geek Fair Five! is a free event for all ages. Festivities start at 1pm and go until 7pm.

Geek Fair Five! will have two stages of live music, delicious organic food and an organic beer garden. There will be tons of fun stuff to check out: “Beat-the Geek” Game Show, Smash-tacular! (you get to go all “Office Space” on a printer of your choosing), Video Gaming Room, Indy Video screenings and kids activities and of course, tours of the Free Geek Community Technology Center every hour.

Geek Fair Five! gives the public many fun ways to contribute to the Free Geek cause. There will be a silent auction with lots of great items donated from local businesses and a raffle featuring a really nice Linux computer as the grand prize. Enjoy a beer in the “garden” or spend time battling for network supremacy in the the game room. Free Geek's computer thrift store will also be open with some great specials and bargains for the computer hobbyist.

Geek Fair Five! is sponsored by Free Geek and the following businesses and organizations. The City Repair Project, Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Program (SEUL), Hosford-Abernathy Neighborhood Association (HAND), Backspace and KBOO 90.7 FM Community Radio.

Free Geek is a local non-profit organization that recycles and refurbishes donated computers and other electronic equipment making them available to individuals and non-profits in the community. Volunteers can participate, learn and earn a free computer system in the process. Volunteer orientation tours are held daily at noon and 6pm.

In five years of operation, Free Geek has received over 230,000 donated gizmos, while more than 4,500 volunteers have refurbished over 5,500 computer systems that have been given away through their various programs. Free Geek's recycling program has salvaged over 600 tons of e-scrap, keeping toxins such as lead, and mercury from the landfill and recovering the valuable materials such as gold and copper for reuse.

For more information, check out Free Geek fair webpage at www.freegeek.org/geekfair. Pre-event press tours available by appointment.

Media Contact: Oso Martín, oso@freegeek.org, 503-232-9350 work, 503-750-8780 cell