breathe raises $20,000 for Haiti, $11,000 raised at November 12 fundraiser | Community Service

On Saturday, Nov. 12, breathe kicked off the launch of its new downtown annex at 930 East Ave. in the Hutchison House and hosted a benefit for its 2011 Seva Challenge, a fund-raising program breathe participates in annually to raise money for a country-in-need. The event featured music by local artist, Angelo Rose; food by breathe and the Good Food Collective; and a silent auction.  About 250 people attended the event, which raised nearly $11,000 for the program. Proceeds helped breathe meet its $20,000 fund-raising goal to help those in Haiti affected by the 2010 earthquake. Wow!

For four years, breathe has aligned with Off the Mat, Into the World (OTM)’s annual Seva Challenge ("Seva" means "service). Led by celebrated yoga instructor Seane Corne, OTM is a not-for-profit organization that annually challenges the national yoga community to raise funds for global needs.  Those who raise $20,000 for each year’s project are invited to join OTM on a humanitarian trip to the benefitting country.  breathe’s Abby Weis will travel to Haiti in February 2012 with OTM to put the dollars raised collectively to use.

To date, breathe has raised more than $80,000 for OTM’s humanitarian programs in Cambodia, Uganda, South Africa and now Haiti.  Once breathe meets its OTM goal each year, it then focuses its efforts locally, resulting in more than $20,000 being raised for local charities, including the Sojourner House, the Bivona Child Advocacy Center, the Catholic Family Center and Bush Mango Drum & Dance, among others.