September 2nd, 2016
By Jason Parr
Here at JSP, many of
us enjoy yoga. I love it because it allows me to build muscle and flexibility while calming my mind. There is something therapeutic about stepping onto the yoga mat and connecting my breath to my movements for a 60 minute Vinyasa class. Usually my practice takes me to a typical yoga studio at Corepower or Lifetime Fitness but last week it took me somewhere a little different….to The North Face on Grand Avenue to be specific. Besides yoga, another thing we care about here at JSP is giving back to the community. As a way to put that value into practice, the other summer intern, Sophia, and I organized a yoga charity event to benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. Founded in 2004, Alex’s Lemonade Stand has raised over $127 million to fund childhood cancer research. The foundation was inspired by a girl named Alex. Part of her bio on their website is as follows: “When she was just four years old, Alex held her first childhood cancer fundraiser in her front yard and raised over $2,000. By the time of her death in 2004, Alex had raise $1 million and inspired a legacy of hope and cures for childhood cancer. Alexandra ‘Alex’ Scott was born to Liz and Jay Scott in Manchester, Connecticut on January 18, 1996, the second of four children. Shortly before her first birthday, Alex was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer”. Alex’s story is sad yet inspiring. If she hadn’t been diagnosed with cancer, Alex would have been in the same grade as me in school and most likely would also be beginning her junior of college. While Alex’s life was tragically cut short, her actions have inspired others to raise money that has gone to better the life of other children who suffer from cancer as well work towards finding cures. When we started planning the event, Sophia and I were both very excited about combining yoga with helping raising money for a great cause. The event was relatively easy to plan but we couldn’t have done it without the help of some good friends.Thanks to a 
friend of mine who works there, The North Face kindly agreed to host the event and another friend of mine, who is yoga instructor certified, agreed to teach the class. Overall the night was success. The North Face opened the garage doors and it almost felt like we were doing yoga right on Grand Avenue! After the class we drank lemonade and socialized. In total we raised close to $200 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand. This event was one of my favorite parts of my summer internship at JSP. It was awesome to see people come together to practice yoga and give back!
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