About
With My Own Two Hands Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We aim to bring the yoga and sport communities together in order to help inspire positive social change on a local and global level. Our goal is to advocate activism within these athletic communities to help those in need. Our mission is to inspire consciousness, encourage activism, and spark a social revolution for change. Specifically, we help raise funds to donate to nongovernemental organizations (mainly orphanages and schools) in Africa that help support and help build projects that benefit children in Africa affected by poverty and or HIV/AIDS.
Specifically, we try and activate our local communities to start a grassroots movement to bring aid to orphans and vulnerable children in various regions in Africa who are affected by poverty and/or HIV/AIDS. Many of the children we work with have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS and we are committed to help provide food, shelter, health and education to those in need. We also focus on taking volunteer teams from our local communities to Africa to firsthand experience the realities these children face. We hope to spark a sense of consciousness in our participants, allowing them to be aware of the impact of poverty and HIV/AIDS. We hope to activate our communities to make a difference in the world, knowing that they really can change the world with their own two hands.
Lindsey Pluimer - Founder
As a yoga instructor, Lindsey immediately fell in love with the Sanskrit prayer, “Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu,” which means, “May all beings be happy and free, and may my own thoughts, words, and actions contribute towards that happiness and freedom for all.” This universal prayer really spoke to her and then she ultimately decided to take a leap of faith and sign up to volunteer in an orphanage in South Africa. She then joined Meriwether Foundation and traveled to the village of Zitha, South Africa and volunteered in July of 2010. Upon arriving in the village, she quickly found her calling in life. Lindsey wanted to continue teaching yoga and dedicate her life to helping these amazing, inspiring children (two careers that she believes go hand-in-hand). At the time, Lindsey was a professional basketball player (who had played basketball at UCLA) and had a contract to play overseas (She had played in Australia and Spain prior to her trip). Although she was in the prime of her career, Lindsey knew that this was her passion in life and that she wanted to make a difference in the lives of the children in Africa. Therefore, when she returned from her volunteer trip, she retired from playing professional basketball and decided to dedicate her life to teaching yoga and running her nonprofit foundation benefiting people affected by poverty and AIDS. She then started With My Own Two Hands Foundation and plans to dedicate her life to help create a sense of social consciousness in others in order to provide aid to these amazing children.
Pam Walker - Board Member
Pam has spent the past 21 years at UCLA as an Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach, and for the past three seasons, the Director of Basketball Operations. She has been fortunate enough to work with world-class athletes in a university setting that she calls home. She views basketball as a tool to educate and enlighten the individual as a whole person, not just as a basketball player, and her mission is for UCLA Basketball to graduate well-rounded, compassionate, and motivated young women who will go out into the world to cultivate caring and alleviate suffering wherever they see an opportunity to do so. Although she has always been committed to the serving the global good and is in charge of community outreach for the Bruins, she felt a calling to do more. That calling led her to join with Children of the Nations International on a mission trip last June to Lira, Uganda. While there, she worked with the local staff to serve the needs of the orphans in the Uganda Children’s Village, and participated in the first live broadcast back to the US from that locale. Seeing joy and gratitude in the faces of those with so little was life-changing, and she returned to California with an even deeper sense of appreciation for the blessings we have as Americans and a longing to help those a world away who are in distress in whatever way possible. She is excited to share in Lindsey’s vision for With My Own Two Hands, and is honored to be on the Board of Directors for such a worthy cause.
Anthony Chavez - Board Member
Anthony would rather talk about you and your accomplishments than his own, but this is where we get to share a little bit of his story with you. He has consistently found himself in the role of trainer, coach, and most recently as a professional Speaker with Freedom Personal Development and Studio Manager of Corepower Yoga in Irvine. It was with his time at Freedom that Anthony was introduced to Yoga and the transformative and life changing power of the practice of Yoga. He believes Yoga to be the physical embodiment of personal and spiritual growth. His purpose is crystal clear: To help everyone to live a life of purpose and fulfillment while allowing their highest and truest form of self to shine bright. Anthony's first love was baseball as he played through high school & college and even now to this day. As a baseball coach, he has helped propel his players onto the collegiate and professional levels of the game. Through his work as a yoga teacher, coach and personal development instructor Anthony has been able to inspire, motivate and give guidance to children and adults. While opening the Corepower studio he met Lindsey and connected deeply with her and her life’s work with WMO2H. Now as a part of WMO2H, He is inspired to be able to expand his reach to children and families affected by poverty and AIDS. “I feel It’s an absolute honor and a blessing to be a part of such a organization. My goal here is to end as much suffering, physically and mentally as possible and help provide the tools to live in peace and love throughout their lives” Anthony Chavez
Community
With My Own Two Hands Foundation is focusing their efforts on bringing the yoga and sport communities together to help fight against the realities of poverty and HIV/AIDS on a local and global level. We believe that yoga reinforces the notion of connection and oness and reminds us that we are all interconnected in this beautiful web of life. We also believe that athletics reminds us of the power of teamwork and committment and we believe that with the help of the yoga and sport communities that we can work together to make a difference in the lives of children less fortunate. Our mission is to ignite a grassroots movement with these active, local communities and to be able to give participants the first hand experience to make a difference in someone’s life who has been affected by HIV/AIDS.
We specifically focus our efforts on helping orphans in Africa who are affected by poverty and or who have lost their parents to AIDS. We take volunteer teams to various parts of Africa supporting projects and orphanages that help disadvantaged kids in Africa. We believe our trips to Africa will be a mutually benefiting experience for both the orphans and our volunteers. We believe that not only will the orphans benefit from our projects, but that the orphans themselves will in turn inspire our volunteers to reach their fullest potential as human beings, challenging us to be the change we wish to see in the world (as Ghandi said).
Become a member of our organization and find a way to get involved in your community so that you can be apart of the movement…changing the world with your own two hands! Join our team today and receive updates on how you can get involved by helping us provide aid to orphans in Africa!
Simply fill out the form below and tell us a bit about yourself!
With My Own Two Hands Foundation offers donation based yoga classes as a way to not only take care of our own mind and body, but also to be apart of something greater than ourselves. Come join us in our donation classes and help us make a difference in the lives of others!
Beyond Hot Yoga
Tuesday - 7:30am
Friday - 6:30pm
Sunday - 9:00am
31271 Niguel Road
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
(949) 443-6080
www.beyondhotyoga.com
If you are interested in starting your own donation yoga classes for our foundation please contact Lindsey Pluimer:
info_withmyown2hands.org
Founded in the summer of 2009, Your Way is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization as recognized by the Internal Revenue Service. We are an activity and service-based organization dedicated to igniting and spreading philanthropic mind sets within the community. Our mission is to help community stakeholders own up to their innate responsibility to help others less fortunate in the way of offering charitable opportunities that fit into their day-to-day activities.
Our purpose is to offer convenient options of giving and/or volunteering to people in our community who are interested in volunteerings but are unaware of opportunities that are convenient and complimentary to their hectic lifestyles.
Off the Mat Into the Worlds mission is to use the power of yoga to inspire conscious, sustainable activism and ignite grassroots social change. OTM helps individuals take the path of yoga "off the mat and into the world," expanding the sphere of change outward to local and global communities. They have trained over 600 yogis, many of whom have gone on to take action in their communities.
To date, the Off the Mat community has collaborated to raise almost $2 million dollars for projects in need.
www.offthematintotheworld.org
www.doityourway.org
Action!
With My Own Two Hands plans to activate our communities to start a grassroots movement for social change. Be apart of this movement and help us bring aid to orphans in Africa. Let us all use our own two hands to make the world a better place!
Help us raise funds for kids who have been affected by HIV/AIDS around the world. Or come join us on a trip to Africa to help build orphanages and AIDS clinics for those in need of our help! We believe that not only will the orphans benefit from our projects, but that the orphans themselves will in turn inspire our volunteers to reach their fullest potential as human beings!
For more information contact:
"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
Help us help children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS!
Donate
Check out our blog for upcoming events, news, updates and trips to Africa!
Click Here
Contact
Do you want to get involved? Do you have any questions for us? Or are you interested in hosting an event for our cause? Please fill out the form below and we'll get right back to you.
With My Own Two Hands Foundation. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
