Newsletter January 2013

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~ Who We Are ~

MahaShakti Foundation is managed by Keith Fox and Kelly Brookbank. Both are ERYT500 Yoga Instructors which is currently the highest level of certification offered by the Yoga Alliance (the professional organization that manages licensing for yoga instructors world wide). Keith has been a leader in the yoga community of Boca Raton and Delray Beach for the last 20 years. He has taught many students in Palm Beach County. In August 2006 Keith Fox began Colony Yoga in Delray Beach and in July 2009, Keith and Kelly opened The Buddha Lounge Studio Location. The purpose was to be able to provide more classes and workshops to the community in Delray Beach.

For the past 3 years Keith and Kelly have also been working to expand their 501(c)(3) organization, The MahaShakti Foundation (see Appendix A for documentation on exempt status). The main goal of the Foundation is to provide free yoga, music, and meditation to those of all economic and social levels given that all are tools for stress reduction and are conducive to a healthy life style. MahaShakti does this in a number of ways such as:

• Hosting festivals to the public (at minimal or no cost) so that participants from all walks of live can enjoy yoga, meditation, and music
• Providing children’s programs in Schools, Community Centers, etc. to allow at risk children to have access to Art, Yoga, and Music
• Providing scholarships to trainings for programs such as Yoga Gangsters so that teachers can learn the skills necessary to teach to at risk groups.
• Providing donation yoga and music/arts/meditation space to the South Florida community.

~ Projects & Activities ~ 

MahaShakti’s first large festival was held in Miami at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. Admission was free to allow 500+ participants to enjoy yoga and music.

GRANT FOR FLORENCE FULLER FOUDATION

In Boca Raton, the children in the summer camp program in 2011 enjoyed yoga each week. MahaShakti also provided yoga for the staff to help them de-stress

GRANT FOR WAYSIDE HOUSE DELRAY BEACH, FL 2011 The women in the WaySide House shelter and the staff were provided a yoga class each week.

YOGAFEST IN WELLINGTON 2011

MahaShakti’s hosted an amazing event for over 1000 participants over 2 days at International Polo Club Palm Beach. Friday evening 11.11.11 was a free night of Yoga with Live Music with Keith Fox followed by a Kirtan/Concert with International Recording Artist Jai Uttal. This concert was free for the public and those from all economic and social backgrounds enjoyed the event. Saturday 11.12.11 was an all day Yoga Conference/Festival for hundreds of participants with several popular South Florida instructors teaching classes. Teachers included Prem Shakti, Colleen Gallagher, Christy Nones, Judy Weaver, Leslie Glickman, Paige Held, Ari Traverso, Shakti Durgaya, Jiwan Kaur, and Juliana Bossano. MahaShakti worked with Connected Warriors to distribute hundreds of free passes for Veterans so that they could enjoy the class provided by Judy Weaver. MahaShakti also worked with Yoga Gangsters to allow local at-risk Youth to have free Admission and access to a “Yoga Gangsters” class. Special thanks to International Polo Club Palm Beach for their donation of the space and staff to help host this beautiful event for South Florida.

Monthly Drum Circle This music event is held outdoors (weather permitting) on the 2nd Saturday of each month. This is a Free community event open to those of all ages sponsored by MahaShakti.

Achievement Center Yoga and Art Grant Project

Underprivileged children were taught yoga and art outdoors over a 3 week period. Kids were bused from the Achievement Center to the Buddha Lounge/Ganesha Garden so they could learn stress reductionandcreativityskills. AscholarshipparticipantfromtheYogaGangsterstraining provided the yoga instruction.

2012 Earth Day Festival

Held over April 21 and 22, 2012 in Delray Beach at the Ganesha Garden. Free yoga classes were provided all day and free music and food was provided so that those of all economic walks of live could enjoy yoga. Local At Risk Teens Volunteered to staff the event and helped with parking direction and the information table.

Solstice Open House

On June 21 2012, a free yoga class was provided and once again free music and food was provided so that those of all economic walks of live could enjoy yoga and music.

2012 Yoga Genius Grant

Brooke Waszack was awarded a grant after providing a successful yoga program to her elementary students. The group enjoyed yoga and meditation after school to help them prepare for year-end testing. MahaShakti hopes to provide multiple grants in the near future to help teach children skills to lower stress and improve productivity in school.

Appendix A - MahaShakti Foundation Exempt Status