At Georgetown Yoga, we believe that each
day provides us with an opportunity to take action in serving others
and showing compassion to those less fortunate. We remain
committed to making regular community contributions through seasonal
charity events, on a local as well as a more expansive level. Our
goal is to incorporate karma yoga into our commitment to various
charitable organizations and to rise above ourselves in order to
truly help others. If you would like to suggest a deserving
organization for our next charity class, please send an email to
info@georgetownyoga.com
for consideration.
We are proud of our ongoing efforts,
which include:
January – June 2007: Leukemia
and Lymphoma Society
Throughout our weekend teacher training program happening at
the studio from January through June 2007, our teacher trainees
offer a mixed level charity class on Sunday evenings after the
training. All charity classes are in support of their chosen
charity, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The Leukemia & Lymphoma
Society is the world's largest voluntary health organization
dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient
services. The Society's mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's
disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and
their families. Since its founding in 1949, the Society has invested
more than $483 million for research specifically targeting blood
cancers.
June
2007: Race for the Cure
Each year, Georgetown Yoga forms a group of yogis who run and walk
the 5k at the Komen National Race for the Cure in Washington, DC.
Over the past few years, we have raised approximately $3,000 towards
finding a cure for breast cancer. Thanks to everyone that
participated in and donated to Team GY! Georgetown Yoga also sold
pink “I LOVE YOGA” T-shirts, a portion of the proceeds from which
were donated to the Susan J. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
October
2007:
DC
Making Strides for Breast Cancer Walk
Congrats to
everyone on the Georgetown
Yoga team who walked the 5 miles on a beautiful, warm
fall day. We met our goal of raising $2,000
towards finding a cure for breast cancer. Thank you for your support!
Upcoming
2007: Holiday charity yoga
classes to benefit SOME, So Others
Might Eat
SOME began as a soup kitchen 33 years ago,
and expanded over the years to address the root causes of
homelessness and poverty, creating a comprehensive social service
program for the poor and homeless of DC. SOME feeds more than 900
people a day and provides other services that meet basic needs
including clothing, medical and dental care, and shelter for the
elderly. Their special programs include a 12 week residential jobs
program, a socialization program for the mentally ill, addictions
counseling and a Center for Employment Training. Throughout the past
four holiday seasons, we raised over $1,000 plus overflowing bags
and boxes of canned and non-perishable food items. We look forward
to continuing our holiday tradition of supporting SOME in 2007 and
beyond, to do what we can to help relieve the hunger and loneliness
of the neediest people in Washington.
Ongoing:
Donations of
class passes and yoga merchandise to benefit fundraising events
Georgetown Yoga is happy to support individual charity efforts, so
please contact us for consideration if you would like to request a
donation for your event. Previous events have included the 20th
Annual Sallie Mae 10K Race, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, the
Center for Environmental Citizenship Summer Fundraiser, Going the
Distance for MS Research, Knock Out Abuse Against Women, the
Smithsonian Associates Young Benefactors, the 14th Annual
Art & Articles Auction to benefit Metro TeenAIDS, PanCAN’s Auction
for Action to benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, St Jude
Children’s Research Hospital, The Festival of Trees to benefit
Children’s Hospital, WETA Public Television, Georgetown University
Medical School, and many others.
Previous:
Weekly yoga
class for seniors at the Georgetown Senior Center
Georgetown Yoga provided yoga class every Wednesday, and
occasionally cooked a healthy meal for the seniors as well. The
Georgetown Senior Center is a group that meets for exercise, lunch
and educational activities at the St. John's Episcopal Church on O
Street. During Summer 2004, we taught charity yoga classes to
benefit the Senior Center, and raised over $600 through these
efforts.
Yoga Mat
Donations with the
Washington Humane Society and
The Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy
People
kept asking us - what to do with an old yoga mat? In 2004, we
donated old yoga mats (over 70 of them!) to the Humane Society for
use in animal crates. Old yoga mats are soft, easy to clean, and
best of all smell like people! Perfect for dogs and cats. Mat
donations received $5 off the purchase of a new yoga mat, and that
money was also donated to the Humane Society. In 2006, we donated
all our used yoga mats to the Cesar Chavez Public Charter High
School for Public Policy--Capitol Hill Campus, so they could
incorporate a yoga program for their rising high school community.
Disaster Relief
In
January 2005, Georgetown Yoga raised $500 for
Oxfam America through
our tsunami relief charity yoga classes. We also raised an
additional $150 for the
Royal Thai Embassy's
Tsunami Relief Fund at our Feb. 6 Thai Massage Open House.
Christopher Reeve
Foundation
In
April 2006, Georgetown Yoga conducted a Therapeutic Flow Charity
Workshop to benefit the Christopher Reeve Foundation in support of
their ongoing efforts in paralysis research. Georgetown Yoga
contributed $350 dollars to the foundation through the workshop
itself, as well as an additional $100 for the purchase of Superman
Tags for the workshop participants and donors. This workshop truly
embraced our commitment to Karma Yoga - by focusing the charity
class on yoga therapy, we expressed appreciation for the
capabilities of our bodies while also making a valuable contribution
towards finding a cure for others with paralysis.
