This Saturday, October 10th, is World Mental Health Day. To honor this, 20% of our proceeds this month will be contributed to Crisis Text Line.


Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, high-quality text-based mental health support and crisis intervention by empowering a community of trained volunteers to support people in their moments of need.

They are a nonjudgmental organization that champions mental well-being and aims to support people of every race, ethnicity, political affiliation, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, socioeconomic status, and other backgrounds. They use empathy and active listening to empower texters to identify their own strengths and coping strategies in moments of crisis. They listen to and learn from the community to help them continuously improve their service.


Their mission: at the intersection of empathy and innovation, we promote mental well-being for people wherever they are.


Their vision: an empathetic world where no one feels alone.


They serve individuals, communities and populations working in partnership with NGOs, foundations, corporations, and government and intergovernmental agencies to scale impact globally. Crisis Text Line provides free 24/7, confidential mental health support via text, delivering crisis intervention and prevention when it’s needed most. They pair human connection with scalable technology, research and partnerships to strengthen mental health systems and drive lasting change.


Their impact: 16 million conversations since 2013 globally and supporting over 11 million conversations in the U.S. 84% of their texters find services helpful and a vast majority feel a positive change in mood. 100,000 trained volunteer Crisis Counselors responding to over 350 million messages.
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There is no shame in asking for help. To learn more about the resources available with Crisis Text Line, visit their website: https://www.crisistextline.org/

20% of our proceeds this month will go to the Imagination Library.


Here are Dolly’s own words about the importance of creating Imagination Library:


“Before he passed away, my Daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me because I created the Imagination Library as a tribute to my Daddy. He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams.

“Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission. In the beginning, my hope was simply to inspire the children in my home county but here we are today with a worldwide program that gives a book a month to well over 3 million children.
“Of course, I have not done this alone. The real heroes of our story are the thousands of local organizations who have embraced my dream and made it their own. They raise millions of dollars each year and wake up every day with a passion to make sure their kids have every opportunity to succeed.

“It’s been quite a journey but we have so much more left to do. I would love for your community to join our family so please take the time to explore our website. Let’s share this dream that all children should grow up in a home full of books.
“The first step is always the hardest, but you’ll never know unless you try…”


In 31 years, the Imagination Library has a total of 3,197,250 kids registered and 332,411,218 books gifted to those children for free. Children from birth to age five can register and through shared Dolly Parton and local community partners in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and Ireland, those children can receive books for free on a monthly basis, all with the hope of spreading Dolly’s passion and love for reading.


To learn more about this incredible organization, visit their website: https://imaginationlibrary.com/

20% of our July and August proceeds will be contributed to the Dementia Society in memory of David Shaff, my father-in-law.


Their mission statement: to enhance the quality of life for those living with Dementia, caregivers and the community.


Their all-volunteer Board of Directors and Advisory Council members use the power of technology and virtual offices to help us make a real-world difference.


Dementia Society of America® (DSA) proudly serves individuals and families across the country who are facing the challenges of over two hundred Dementia-related disorders. Through vital resources, educational outreach, groundbreaking research, and critical programs for caregivers and those diagnosed, we strive to bring hope, understanding, and meaningful support to every community.


​DSA encourages life-enrichment achievements through its Ginny Gives® Awards Program, which focuses on music and singing, dance and movement, the visual arts, touch, and sensory stimulation. The Dementia CARER®, Dementia SMART®, and Dementia QUEST® Programs recognize those who serve the Dementia community through meaningful care, innovation, and research, respectively.


Lastly, DSA often provides the first significant infusion of funding for certain early-stage seed investments in advanced research centered on the causes of and interventions for Dementia, as well as overall brain health-related science.


Dementia education can help people living with these conditions, their families, and their caregivers. They aim to present resources and programs that can make a difference in your life and other people’s lives.


Educate. To significantly raise awareness and decrease the stigma in America of the spectrum of conditions collectively known as Dementia through education.


Knowledge is the first step towards understanding Dementia. It’s important for people to get the information they need so they can cope with the challenges these diseases create. Their organization can be contacted at 1-800-DEMENTIA® (1-800-336-3684) by anyone who would like more information on Alzheimer’s and all the other leading forms of Dementia.
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Provide. To make available, non-medical, easy-to-understand Dementia awareness materials and resources for individuals, small businesses, larger corporations, civic organizations, and communities-at-large. To provide monthly quality-of-life programs within continuing care communities and in public Dementia-friendly forums, that emphasize meaningful therapies for those living with Dementia, and their caregivers. These educational programs can be a lifeline for many people who are looking for ways to enrich the lives of men and women living with Dementia.


Recognize. To encourage those who: provide exemplary Dementia caregiving, counseling, engagement, and even nutritional support; develop prevention initiatives; and create innovative products, services, and solutions.


They believe that every American and each employer in the U.S. should know the facts about Dementia. Therefore, their call-to-action is simple: Know Dementia!®


To learn more about my father-in-law and the important work of the Dementia Society, please visit this link.

This month, 20% of our proceeds will be contributed to the NAACP.


They are the home of grassroots activism for civil rights and social justice.
They advocate, agitate, and litigate for the civil rights due to Black America.
In our cities, schools, companies, and courtrooms, they are the legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Thurgood Marshall, and many other giants.


They envision an inclusive community rooted in liberation where all persons can exercise their civil and human rights without discrimination.


Their mission is to achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.


They are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities. Their work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people.


Some of their current initiatives are Stop Dirty Data Centers, Make Health Equitable, Staying Safe During Protest, Mobilizing Voters, Advocacy in Action: Environmental and Climate Justice, and through the NAACP Empowerment Programs.


To learn more about their historic work, visit their website: https://naacp.org/

How do you practice vulnerability? As an Educator, I watch adults on a weekly basis be brave and learn something completely new. They may have jobs where they are experts in something, but in the studio, there are novices learning how to teach for the very first time. They are learning a new skill, which means they might feel like they are bad at it at the start, but they watch themselves learn, grow, progress, and a whole new person stands before my eyes by the end of the program. It is an amazing transformation to witness.


As we get older, it’s so easy to get stuck in our ways and stuck in the same mindset, the same routine, the same habits, the same story. So, what are you proactively doing to practice being new at something? It helps to build new neural pathways in our brain and it allows us to stay more open, more curious, to not be afraid of our vulnerability.


Last month, I challenged us to purposefully be bad at something. So, my May challenge for us - practice being new at something and not being the know-it-all. Practice the art of being open to new possibilities and learning something that might just break you open and set you free.

This month, 20% of our proceeds will be contributed to Oceana.


Oceana is campaigning around the globe to protect and restore the world’s oceans.


The oceans connect us all. They cover two-thirds of our blue planet and contain most of the life on Earth. They are as important to us as they are vast.  


But the oceans face many threats — from overfishing, habitat destruction, oil and plastic pollution, and the killing of threatened species like turtles, whales, and sharks.


What does Oceana do? They win science-based policies in important coastal countries that rebuild abundant and biodiverse oceans. With more than 325 victories, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results.  


A restored, healthy, and abundant ocean can help fight climate change, sustain livelihoods, and feed more than 1 billion people a healthy seafood meal every day, forever. Together, they can save the oceans and help feed the world.  


After a 1999 study discovered that less than 0.5% of all resources spent by environmental nonprofit groups in the United States went to ocean advocacy, a group of leading foundations — The Pew Charitable Trusts, Oak Foundation, Marisla Foundation (formerly Homeland Foundation), Sandler Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund — banded together.


To fill the gap, they created Oceana: an international organization focused solely on oceans, dedicated to achieving specific, time-bound policy victories that help protect and restore the world’s oceans.


The Ocean Law Project — also initiated by The Pew Charitable Trusts — was absorbed into Oceana in 2001. In 2002, Oceana merged with American Oceans Campaign, founded by actor and environmentalist Ted Danson, to more effectively address our shared mission of protecting and restoring the world’s oceans.


Since its founding, Oceana has expanded its campaigns to nine coastal countries and the European Union and protected over 4 million square miles of ocean.  


Oceana identifies practical solutions that will help our oceans and they make them a reality. They create strategic campaigns that make measurable progress to protect and restore our oceans. Their campaigns are specific, targeted, and designed to be won in a three- to five-year timeframe.


They rely on scientific research to help them understand the ocean’s problems and identify practical, effective solutions. They conduct research on many issues that affect the oceans and marine life. This research helps inform their policy campaigns.


They get on the water with scientists, divers, photographers, campaigners, and artisanal fisher allies to bring important marine places to life and help make a stronger case for their protection. Oceana’s expeditions have powered their campaigns and resulted in victories across the globe.  


Their scientists work closely with their teams of economists, lawyers, communicators, and advocates to achieve tangible results for the oceans.


Oceana has over 9 million supporters, including 1.5 million Wavemakers, who help them contact decision-makers, spread the word, and make real change happen.  


To learn more about their incredible work, visit their website: https://oceana.org/

This month, 20% of our proceeds will be contributed to Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq.


Since 2003, the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq has represented a non-compromising feminist voice to challenge the growing patriarchal, tribal and religious institutions gaining ground in Iraq and to combat the rise of the misogynistic groups like ISIS. They are anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, and staunchly feminist.


The operate by: 1) immediately protecting and empowering individual women through shelters and safe houses to help them rebuild their lives while training those who are interest in becoming feminist leaders, 2) shifting social norms by producing media content to shift public attitudes towards opposing patriarchy and supporting women’s rights, and 3) reforming the legal system by monitoring, documenting and raising awareness to change laws, practices and policies that compromise women’s safety, freedom and dignity.


All these components of their work are interdependent on each other in the effort to redress the extensive violence against the women of Iraq.


In 1998, a group of Iraqi women met in Toronto under the name “Defense of Iraqi women’s Rights” and devised a mandate for defending Iraqi women’s rights from being fully aborted by the growing extremist patriarchal practices in Iraq since the US sanctions in 1991. The subsequent 2003 American invasion and occupation of Iraq was a shocking moment of urgency that compelled one of the program organizers, Yanar Mohammed, to travel to Iraq and found OWFI. In June 2003, they launched their founding event in Al Hiwar Art Gallery in Baghdad’s Al Waziriya neighborhood. Eventually, they registered with the coalition provisional authorities as NGO 567.


Please visit their website to learn more of their brave and important work: https://www.owfiraq.org/

This month, 20% of our proceeds will be contributed to Madre.


Founded in 1983, Madre is an international human rights organization that transcends geographies and generations to deliver sustainable gender, racial, climate and disability justice. They foster a world rooted in their feminist values, where women and girls, and other marginalized groups, fully participate in shaping policies and decision making, their expertise and leadership is recognized and upheld, and they equitably hold power and resources within their communities.


They build solidarity-based partnerships with grassroots movements in more than 40 countries, working side by side with local leaders on policy solutions, grantmaking, capacity bridging, and legal advocacy to achieve the shared vision for justice.


Some of their current campaigns include Building a Just Peace, Advancing Climate Justice and Ending Gender Violence. They have continuously fought against war and exploitation.


To learn more about their incredible work, please visit: https://www.madre.org/

This month, 20% of our proceeds will go to Monarca.


They are a coalition of thousands of workers, students, people of faith, parents, clergy, business owners, teachers, caregivers, and young people. They are a movement that has trained over 20,000 everyday Minnesotans as neighborhood observers to help protect people’s rights where it matters most - on the ground, in their communities.


They stand for the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, including free speech, peaceful protest, and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. These rights are the backbone of a healthy democracy. They’re about dignity, privacy, and safety in our own homes and neighborhoods.


They have a rapid response line and additionally host trainings on how to be an Upstander. They also have many free resources accessible on their website:


https://monarcamn.org/


Please take this time to do some homework on how you can best support those in your own community as well.

This month, 20% of our proceeds will go to The Aphasia Project out of Cary, North Carolina.

I was introduced to this incredible organization by my lifelong friend Kristine Strobbia.


Their mission: empower individuals with aphasia, their families and the broader community by providing lifelong support, education, and resources to strengthen communication, build confidence, and foster meaningful connections for fully integrated lives.

Their vision: a world where people with aphasia are no longer isolated, but empowered through connection, understanding and support, so they can confidently reconnect with their communities, rebuild their lives and thrive with dignity.

TAP’s story started in 2003 when a small group of people gathered in a living room to discuss how to address the long-term needs of individuals with aphasia. Maura Silverman, a speech-language pathologist and TAP’s founder, sought to begin an aphasia-specific program based on a Life Participation Model (LPAA, ASHA 2001). The program would not be center based, rather would reach individuals and their families in their own community. Interest in this small 501(c)(3) organization was incredible, and support was expressed generously by donors, rehabilitation programs, and universities in the area.

Since 2003, TAP Has been the only community-based program in North Carolina offering lifelong, affordable support for individuals with aphasia. At present, we provide 30+ weekly conversation groups, both in-person and virtual, where participants can practice communication skills, build confidence, and connect with others in a small, supportive setting. These groups are led by licensed speech-language pathologists and foster ongoing peer support.

TAP also supports families through our virtual monthly training program, “Learning to Speak Aphasia,” and virtual support groups. Beyond this, TAP raises awareness of aphasia by educating healthcare professionals and community members to better serve affected individuals.

AT TAP, they are dedicated to empowering individuals with aphasia and their families, one conversation at a time.

In 2025, TAP officially rebranded as The Aphasia Project, reflecting their growth beyond the original name Triangle Aphasia Project. They have now outgrown the triangle of in NC and serve individuals now all over the state of North Carolina.
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To learn more about their incredible work, please visit their website: https://www.aphasiaproject.org/

The holidays are always such a special time to go inward - reflect on your year, the highs, the lows, list out what you are grateful for, gather with family, friends, loved ones to celebrate. The holidays can also be a reminder of loss, pain, grief, anger, hurt, sadness, what didn’t happen, couldn’t happen, the desires and wishes and wants that are still with you. It’s an easy time of year to go insular with the good and the bad. But what I hope and challenge for all of us is that we keep our full community at the forefront of our minds - those not in our immediate circle who may need food, shelter, a warm winter coat, a simple smile. When my anxiety peaks, what always helps me is to open my eyes to others around me. You are never alone. As you get swept up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, please do something for someone outside your inner circle.

An extra big THANK YOU for sticking with me all these years - whether it’s reading my newsletters, subscribing to my On Demand library, taking private Pilates sessions with me or becoming a student in our Mat and Comprehensive programs at Equinox, I am so grateful to each and every one of you. May this holiday season be healthy and full of moments that make you feel good from the inside out.


And please shop small this holiday season!

This month, 20% of our proceeds will go to World Central Kitchen.


Food is essential to life every single day, all over the world—and it is more important than ever in a crisis. Not only is a thoughtful, freshly prepared meal one less thing someone has to worry about in the wake of a disaster, it is a reminder that you are not alone, someone is thinking about you, and someone cares. Food has the power to be the nourishment and hope we need to pick ourselves back up in the darkest times.
In 2010, Chef José Andrés, ready to use his culinary knowledge and talent to help, headed to Haiti following a devastating earthquake. Cooking alongside displaced families in a camp, he was guided on the proper way to cook black beans the way Haitians like to eat them: mashed and sieved into a creamy sauce. It wasn’t just about feeding people in need—it was about listening, learning, and cooking side by side with the people impacted by the crisis. This is the real meaning of comfort food, and it’s the core value that José, along with his wife Patricia, used at the center of founding World Central Kitchen.

For seven years after José founded World Central Kitchen, the organization would focus on resilience programs, investing in longer-term solutions around food in the Caribbean and Central America. With roots in Haiti, WCK began a Clean Cooking program to support communities’ transition away from cooking over dangerous open wood- and coal-fueled fires. After several years, José and WCK built and opened École des Chefs, a culinary school in Port-au-Prince under the direction of Mi-Sol Chevallier—one of Haiti’s most respected chefs.

While the organization focused on sustainable programming over the years, José never forgot about those early days cooking in the camp in Haiti. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, and José, with several chefs from his team, decided it was time to act. The group got on the ground and began helping to prepare meals. José continued learning, observing how food relief was handled following a crisis—he immediately saw gaps and ways that it could be done better. Then, just a month later, Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico—the storm brought catastrophic devastation, and millions of Americans were in need, immediately. Boarding the first commercial flight to San Juan, José started in one kitchen, cooking sancocho at a friend’s restaurant in the Santurce neighborhood. Building fast, chefs, food trucks, volunteers joined the team and #ChefsForPuertoRico was born. WCK would go on to serve nearly 4 million fresh meals in the aftermath of María.

Since preparing the first few hundred meals in Puerto Rico, WCK teams have served meals to people recovering from crisis every single day. Hurricanes, wildfires, tsunamis, and volcano eruptions took the team across the world, growing in knowledge and capacity with each crisis. Initially responding to just natural disasters, WCK quickly expanded the definition of disasters to which we respond—providing nourishing meals for refugees arriving at the US border after fleeing violence and extreme poverty, Venezuelan families lacking access to food in their own neighborhoods, heroic hospital staff working nonstop in the uncertainty of a global pandemic, and Ukrainian families living through an unthinkable invasion and the constant threat of attack. All of this work is made possible by working with communities wherever WCK teams go—over and over again, WCK sees the best of humanity show up in the worst of times.
Over the years, José and WCK teams have continued to learn, adapt, and build responses unique to each situation and community. They have, at times, made long-term commitments in food systems following disasters. Their Food Producer Network ran for five years supporting small food producers in Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, Guatemala, and the USVIs. While cooking hot meals with locally sourced ingredients from Field Kitchens has traditionally been our goal and focus in times of crisis, sometimes fresh produce boxes or meal kits for families to cook themselves are a better fit. Partnering with local restaurants looking to help their neighbors allows us to get meals ready immediately. During their response to the Covid-19 pandemic, meals that were cooked, cooled, and could be reheated by families safely at home met the unique need of the time. The WCK approach is that we should always work with urgency, listen to communities, and adapt—all virtues that guide their work.
World Central Kitchen teams across the world remain deeply committed to serving delicious, chef-prepared meals to people with the dignity they deserve. As the climate-crisis worsens and disasters become not only larger, but more frequent, they’ll continue to be there—and they hope you’ll join them. As José likes to say, “everyone is a part of World Central Kitchen, they may just not know it yet!”.


To learn more about this incredible organization, visit their website: https://wck.org/