A HUGE THANK YOU!

dearest kalamazoo backyard yogis + community,

i wanted to send a quick thank you for the fundraising push over the weekend. for those of you who took the challenge and sent the link to 5 or 10 friends, thank you. truly. and if you haven't yet, there's still time.

in just 48 hours, we raised over $1,500, which brings the total to $5,410 raised so far. the fundraiser page itself is showing a little less because one donor gave directly, but either way, we are well over halfway to our goal. that kind of response in such a short amount of time is no small thing. i'm really proud to be part of a community that shows up for one another like this.

https://gofund.me/637a010db

i've been re-reading A Queer Dharma by Jacoby Ballard, and i keep coming back to the reminder that care isn't just individual. so much of what keeps us well is collective. when the people around us are cared for physically, emotionally, socially, materially, we are all better for it. our lives are bound up together whether we acknowledge it or not, and i think this fundraiser is one small way of practicing that.

thank you for helping make that possible. thank you for giving, for sharing, for caring, and for continuing to practice the kind of interdependence that so many of us are trying to remember our way back into.

if you want to keep reading and reflecting on this kind of work with me, i'll be joining a free online book club discussion of A Queer Dharma on august 4. the Yoga Activism Book Club is a collaboration between Mookaite Jasper (they / them) and Becky Aten (they / she). they are not affiliated with Kalamazoo Backyard Yogis. you can find more information here:

https://mookaitejasper.com/book-club/

be kind to yourselves, be kind to each other… be mean to the systems.

take care,

shelby + KBY