STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Raise a glass of agua fresca as you toast the work of Flourish Foundation and its work with the youth of the Wood River Valley during Flourish Foundation’s annual summer luncheon.

The event—a fundraiser for the nonprofit organization—will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Ketchum’s Limelight Hotel. Tickets can be purchased at https://secure.qgiv.com/for/flourishfoundation/event/flourishfoundationsummerluncheon2025/.

The luncheon will include:

A film viewing of Flourish's various programs and its impact this past year

A story told by a Compassionate Leaders Program alumni-turned Sage School teacher who recently returned from co-leading the South Africa international trip with Compassionate Leader youth

A playful game of Mingle Bingo with a blow-out prize for one winner!

Flourish Foundation supports the mental health and personal growth of students in kindergarten through 12th grade and adults through mindfulness exercises, environmental stewardship and programs like its Compassionate Leaders, who fan out across the globe to engage with those in places like Ladakh, India, and South Africa.

The organization is guided by 12 core values, including playfulness, vulnerability, kindness, joy, generosity, interdependence and ethics.

It got its start in 2009 when a group of parents and educator asked Ryan Redman, who had grown up in the Wood River Valley, to share his experience teaching meditation and studying contemplative practices.

Redman started with 30 minutes a week in one fifth-grade classroom in Bellevue. Since, the organization’s staff and volunteers have served 620 classrooms in Blaine County, Teton County and Makhanda, South Arica.

And Ryan’s wife Paige has added a five-week Mindfulness Based Childbirth and Parenting class to the bundle that also includes weekly guided meditations and special events, such as an upcoming workshop titled “The Art of Dying.”

Can’t make it but want to donate? Go to https://secure.qgiv.com/for/flourishfoundation/. Learn more about the organization at https://www.flourishfoundation.org/.