Del Mar Plaza Hosts “Live It” Fundraiser Event

“Live It” is a fundraising event, hosted at the Del Mar Plaza, that utilizes yoga, music, art and food to bring about social change.  The Hale Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization that was created by a group of teachers, performers, entrepreneurs, and artists that are committed to making sure all kids in San Diego have the ability to experience the benefits of strong physical and mental health practices. Hale Foundation brings expert yoga, martial arts and creative arts teachers to kids in under-served neighborhoods.

My name is Joe Kudla, and I’m the founder and CEO of Vuori Clothing, and if you’re not familiar with Vuori, we’re a new men’s activewear brand based out of Encinitas, California. Everything we do is inspired by our lifestyle, and so that’s yoga, surf, sport, life. One of the core values as a brand is creating and building community and inspiring others to take action in their lives, to live their dreams, and live the life that they have always wanted. Live It, which is happening right now just in front of me is one step in that direction. I would say more than a fundraiser, Live It is a community action project, and it all starts with me reaching out to a few people that say, “Yes.”

Hi, my name’s Lauren Duke. I am, I guess, one of the co-creators of Live It and been helping to make this event real for the last several years, and I love teaching at it. I think really our biggest accomplishment with Live It is the fact that it actually even happens, because it’s really just something that we think about doing, and then to watch everyone come together collectively and be able to manifest all these people is pretty amazing. Of course, the bigger issue is being able to help the foundation, which we love as well. But again, I think that collectively that’s the reason why I do it.

My name’s Kirk Hensler. I’m the co-founder of Hale Foundation. We’re a non-profit here in San Diego that does yoga, martial arts, creative arts, and leadership programming for kids grades 3 through 12. We came into partnership with Vuori for this fundraiser because Joe is a good friend of mine, and they reached out to us and asked if they could support what we were doing in any way. So they have this party, this Live It event, which is a few hundred people practicing yoga, eating good food, and just getting together for a good cause. Logistically speaking, I think we’ll raise about $15,000 for the Hale Foundation today for one event, not to mention all the awesome people that become aware of what we’re doing. So, for me, to have a partnership like this with Vuori, it’s beyond explanation. You don’t often get help from people let alone them come to you and offer to help your organization, so we’re blown away.