Amanda Kimble is using yoga to help the homeless.
Kimble’s company Villa Vibes Yoga has partnered with Bridge to Home Homeless Services to hold the first Bridge to Om: Yoga on the Field Fundraiser. While Bridge to Home operates year round, their shelter shuts down during the summer months. All the proceeds from the event will go toward funding yearlong services from the shelter.
“The need for help never stops with the seasons,” Kimble said. “Bridge to Home provides so many services and we’d like to assist them with their goal of helping our neighbors move from homeless to housing.”
The fundraiser is scheduled 8:30 a.m. to noon March 2 at the College of the Canyons football stadium.
Kimble decided she wanted to partner with Bridge to Home after she spoke about the organization with another attendee at a NextSCV networking event. She had heard about the organization before and had previously volunteered at one of their Thanksgiving events, but after hearing the other person speak about their work and hearing they needed help, Kimble wanted to do her part.
“I took that networking event as a sign that I should do what I can to help out, so I reached out to them and they were really responsive and wonderful,” she said.
The event will take place on the College of the Canyons football stadium and will include a child and beginner friendly yoga class and a sponsor vendor boutique. Kimbel said she was inspired to hold the event after she seen similar events held in other cities.
“It had been my dream to hold a ‘yoga on the field’ event for a while since I had seen it done for charity at the Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions fields,” Kimble said. “I’m hoping to have 300 to 500 people but we could easily accommodate thousands. There’s something really beautiful about the energy in a yoga class and I thought if we could multiply that by as many people as possible then it would be something special that we could remember forever.”
Kimble said she believes that yoga is the perfect fundraising event because generosity aligns with one of the core tenets of yoga.
“A lot of yoga philosophy is about self love and self care but there’s also the aspect of caring and giving to others,” she said. “This is the perfect opportunity to practice the act of giving back while doing yoga.”
Though she is no stranger to organizing events, Kimble said she was unfamiliar with the logistics involved in organizing a fundraiser. She considers this first time holding the event to be a learning experience to “roll with the punches” and said she is excited for the new experience of teaching to such a large crowd. If the event is successful she hopes to hold it again in the future and help establish it as an annual Bridge to Home fundraiser.
“Once we do it the first time, I think it’ll be really successful and it’ll start to grow from there,” she said. “This event will hopefully bring a new awareness in the community to Bridge to Home and what they do and hopefully encourage more people to help them to help out as well.”
To purchase a ticket, register as a sponsor or a vendor or to volunteer visit https://www.btohome.org/news-events/om/.
