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community partners

Apr 28
0

May Students of the Month: Liz + Suzi

By community partners, Core Value Kudos, Student of the Month, Student Stories

peep diorama

One peep, two peep, pink peep, blue peep! Meet the dynamic duo behind the amazing Funky Buddha Easter Peep diorama. Colleagues, friends, Funky Buddhas, these ladies bring the FUN to Funky.

Find out why our very own Jen McDaniel nominated the duo as this month’s Student(s) of the Month!

Liz and Suzi show up with energy and excitement, and better yet, on the days they don’t, one of them will say something real like, “I just really need this today” or “it feels good to be here right now.”

Liz and Suzi had Funky Buddha on their minds this month when they built a tiny, precious Peeps diorama of our studio, including fruit roll-up yoga mats and a chalkboard wall! A+ for their attention to detail—right down to the Starburst yoga blocks. 😉

Liz and Suzi are my latest she-ros, working their tails off as community leaders, mentoring and modeling positivity for children and teachers, AND giggling their butts off in hot pink yoga pants when the day is done.

Three cheers for Liz, Suzi and all the great yoga Peeps! —Jen

SOTM_Liz and Suzi

Suzi, Liz and Jen!

A little Q & A with Liz + Suzi:

Why yoga?

Yoga is fun and is helping us stay fit! Liz was introduced to the Funky Buddha by a friend in Holland and she convinced Suzi to join this past fall. After a long day as administrators in a school, sweating bullets is invigorating!

How did the two of you meet?

We work together at Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic School, just down the street from the Eastown location. Suzi is the Principal and Liz is the Assistant Principal.

It’s pretty cool that the two of you are able to practice together. How did this start? How often?

We are able to practice together because we work together, right up the street! Since we are so close to Funky Buddha and work together we motivate each other to get to class…even when we would rather go shopping!

How have you impacted or influenced each other’s lives?

(Liz) Suzi has impacted my life because I get to watch her and learn from her as the leader of our school. She is an amazing person and she is also hilarious! We laugh together all of the time. That is another reason why coming to yoga together is so much fun!
(Suzi) Actually, Liz is the hilarious one! Both of us are very driven and motivated to stay healthy, so when one of us decides to workout the other wants to join! We keep each other accountable to our practice!

Are either of you planning to do the 30-Day Dare or have you in the past?

We have talked about doing the 30-Day Dare, as neither of us has done it before, but our work schedules keep us at meetings at least once or twice a week so at this time we are not doing the May challenge. However, we have talked about doing our own challenge in June or July once school is out! Suzi has been trying to get me to do her 30 -day wine dare…I might be more successful at that! A 30-Day Dare is a goal for us in the future.

Advice to fellow yogis, young and old?

Have fun at yoga and if you can go with a friend, it makes your practice so much more fun!

May 23
0

Meet the Spoke Folks

By community partners

spoke folks

Written by Martel Posey, Community Outreach for The Spoke Folks

The Spoke Folks are people who find our lives are better when we bike.

spoke folksFour years ago, The Spoke Folks was started as a volunteer based non-profit bicycle co-op with the vision to keep cycling affordable and accessible for everyone.

One of the main priorities at the organization is to educate and empower people, so they can learn to fix and maintain their bikes themselves. Even if it’s their first time riding, we want to help everyone get on a bike and have a great time. We want to make sure the biking community has the knowledge necessary to venture out with confidence.

How does this all work? There are two options while in the shop – pay $5 every visit to look over the bike or pay $50 for a yearly membership. There will always be a staff member in the shop to guide and help properly fix any bike.

In order to reach more communities to ensure access to affordable and quality bikes, The Spoke Folks recently launched a mobile repair truck! This will provide the opportunity to connect with and service more community members.

There are great events coming up this summer! The mobile repair truck will be at the Funky Buddha Outdoor Community Class Kickoff at Wilcox Park on June 5, at the Crank music festival June 11, Music for Miles on August 6, and Bike Camping August 12-14.

Interested in learning more? Also stay in touch with us on TheSpokeFolks.org, Facebook and Instagram.

 

 

Apr 11
0

Funky Community Partners – Urban Roots

By community partners, Hot Yoga, Yoga

Get to know our Funky Community Partners: Urban Roots

As our Funky Buddha Tribe continues to grow and mature, so too does our responsibility and role in our greater community. As many of you know, the revenue generated by the Funky Buddha Community Classes goes to support our Community Partners.

These partners are specifically selected for their passion, vision, and their alignment with our Funky Buddha Core Values of Accessibility, Quality, Continuous Improvement, and RICH (Respect, Integrity, Intentionality, Caring, Honesty, & Humility) Action. Spend a little time getting to know these Funky Fabulous organizations – you will be glad that you did.

urban roots grand rapids

From the Crew at Urban Roots:

Located in the Southtown neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Urban Roots is a group of locally minded place makers who believe that growing food is an invitation into being fully human. The vehicle? Urban agriculture. Why? Because we care about food justice, unemployment, and community well being. Because we believe that cultivating soil in our own back yards and in our neighborhoods ultimately cultivates healthier families, relationships with one another, and relationships with our ecosystems.

In late November 2015, the Urban Roots team along with a generous group of friends, family, and volunteers began to transform what was to become the Urban Roots Community Farm & Education Center. Since then, 1316 Madison has seen change, warmth, and growth taking place inside and outside its walls.

This year, Urban Roots will be host to a slew of activities including the Community Farm, a YouthCorps Program in partnership with the Grand Rapids Center for Community Transformation, and the Mobile Classroom, a partnership with 5 area churches, schools, and food pantries.

Looking to support and nourish your community? Looking to purchase fresh veggies grown in your own city? Urban Roots has CSA shares available and will also be conducting a market stand at our farm on Madison. Join us for our Second Annual Plant Sale and Open House on Saturday, May 14 from 9:30am – 2:00pm! We will have seedlings and heirloom varieties for sale, coffee to sip, music, and a celebration of the start of a new growing season with our neighbors.

For more information regarding CSA shares, community events, workshops, and ways to come alongside the work of Urban Roots, visit www.urbanrootsgr.org or visit us on Facebook.

 

You’ll be seeing more of Urban Roots at our Sunday Outdoor Community Classes (at Wilcox Park) this summer. STAY TUNED!