Happy New Year!
We are delighted to share our 2015 Annual Report, highlighting our accomplishments and reflecting our plans for the future. Please click to see the Annual Report.
We have continued to work closely with Merced County’s Probation Department, Merced Boys & Girls Club, and other youth-serving organizations in the Central Valley and Northern California.We completed a short video, Unifying Spirit – Honoring Indigenous, with the American Indian tribes of Yosemite, funded by an America’s Best Ideas grant from the National Parks Foundation.
All pictures are excerpts from our book, “Voices From the Inside”
We have especially focused on our relationship with the Merced County Probation Department. Almost every week Ron goes to the Merced County juvenile justice complex, Iris Garrett, for lunch with the youth. He brings healthy organic food and they share lunch and talk about their experiences in Yosemite. Ron and his work with Probation was also featured in The Search for Freedom by filmmaker Jon Long.
Our new book, Voices From Inside Out, was developed jointly by Sacred Rok and the Probation Department youth whom are incarcerated. This inspirational book tells the stories of 22 young people who have come to Yosemite with Sacred Rok, and what it has meant to them.
With the support of our donors, last year Ron led twenty-six day trips and five camping trips with Merced County Probation, Boys & Girls Club of Merced, EMQ FamiliesFirst, Yosemite area Native American Tribes and Symple Equazion. These trips provide the opportunity for these young people to experience nature and to build ongoing relationships.
Ron has also made presentations to groups throughout the Bay Area, as well as showing his movie Return to Balance: A Climber’s Journey at the Yosemite Visitor Center on weekend nights during the spring and summer.
We are grateful to our many supporters and donors, who share our values and commitment to our future as an inclusive society connected to nature and its wonders.These projects have been supported by Clif Bar Family Foundation, The North Face, Patagonia, Yosemite Conservancy, Merced County United Way, and the National Parks Foundation. All of our trips are at no cost to the participants. We are 100% funded by donations (monetary and in-kind), grants, and contracts. We are especially grateful for the donation of a camper vehicle from Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford of Clif Bar, providing amenities such as refrigeration and hot water for our camping trips.
Thank you for the opportunity to share the healing experience of nature with the young people we serve as well as with the larger community.
And please let us know if you would like a copy of Voices From the Inside Out – you will love it! We ask a $20 donation if possible, thanks!
Nancy Goodban, Board Chair
Click here for Voices from our Youth
Donate to Sacred Rok for #GivingTuesday
Please join us in celebrating #GivingTuesday – a day where giving back takes center stage over the shopping and spending of the holiday season. Sacred Rok reflects the importance of slowing down, paying attention to our surroundings, honoring the present, and respecting nature.
If you donate to Sacred Rok through PayPal’s Giving Fund today, they will add 1%.
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/search-cause?charityId=117921&s=3
Thank you for your support!!
The Search For Freedom
As we continue our relationship with Bear Creek Academy Juvenile Hall we’re happy to share our part in a feature length film called The Search for Freedom; which has played in 80 theaters across the US and winner of numerous awards.
Here is the short:
RON KAUK SHORT from Jon Long on Vimeo.
In our commitment of being with the youth at Juvenile Hall we keep building our story through camping trips, day trips, and lunch outings, which your donations help us to do.
We humbly thank you for your generous donations because it is with your support that we can continue to follow our mission.
We also would like to remind you that we offer a series of prints, t-shirts, and books in exchange for your contribution. Please check our website for more details: http://sacredrok.org/donate-now/