Yokoji Zen Center was founded in 1982 by the renowned monk Taizan Maezumi Roshi.  Since 1995, Yokoji has been functioning as a year-round Zen Training Center for residents and non-residents under the direction of the abbot, Tenshin Fletcher Roshi.  It is one of the most respected Zen Training Centers in the Western World, regarded so by Japanese and Western teachers alike.  Additionally, multiple  members of the RNP foundation have attended sesshin (retreat) and/or stayed for some time period doing residential training.  We’ve found our time spent there invaluable.  For all these reasons we are proud to have donated 10,000 dollars to the center for them to continue the amazing work and teaching they are doing.

“ServiceSpace is an organization run entirely by volunteers. We leverage technology to encourage everyday people around the world to do small acts of service. Our aim is to ignite the fundamental generosity in ourselves and others, creating both inner and outer transformation.

ServiceSpace was conceived by volunteers, was built by volunteers, and is run by volunteers — all for the benefit of volunteers. Our projects range from a daily positive news service, to an acts-of-kindness portal, to a gift-economy restaurant. Regardless of the endeavor, we act in concert to create service opportunities for each other and to support each other’s service journeys.”

We find the work being done and the movement being created by Service Space to be paradigm shifting.  Oftentimes philanthropy is seen from a top-down approach – donating to large organizations that then help the people they serve.  Although there is nothing wrong with this approach, few have tried and executed a bottom-up approach like Service Space – encouraging simple acts of kindness in every day people to create large change in the world through an accumulation of seemingly small gestures of love. 

In order to support the work being done and the unbelievably selfless people of Service Space the RNP Foundation has donated to support the living costs of one of their volunteers and for the living costs for a man who was involved with service space to live his dream of being able to focus completely on his meditation and become a Buddhist monk. 

The mindfulness program at the Juvenile detention center has now been instated for over a year. This program is taught to children who are under the highest security grade at juvenile hall, many of whom are awaiting adult sentencing. It now consists of three, hour-long classes two times a week as an increasing number of students are participating. The classes are optional during the recreation period, so these children are actively choosing these mindfulness lessons over video games and movies.

The classes are taught by Christine Mcbride who is an extremely talented, compassionate, trauma-informed yoga teacher. She opens with a mindful breath work session followed with art therapy and finishes with question-answer about letting go of limiting beliefs, dealing with stress, and finding peace. Although it initially took time to gain their trust, Christine has now made massive impact on many students in the program to decrease violent behavior and anxiety as well as to instill confidence and peace. The students during the sessions are eager to participate and learn. Due to Christine’s impact, the program was awarded Outstanding Volunteer Services for 2022-2023, one of only three awards handed out to over one hundred volunteers.