Find a kidney for Jack Certain & Gorilla Yogis

A young boy sits cross-legged on the concrete floor holding a phone, a room of yoga practitioners standing on their mats behind him

This is a beautiful story of a loving community coming together to help a sweet little boy find a new kidney that he so desperately needed. Little Jack Certain had kidney issues since his time in utero. He had his first transplant at age two, receiving a kidney from his mother. By age 7, and after hours and hours and hours of hospital visits and dialysis, he was in desperate need of yet another transplant. Finding a transplant for Jack was no easy task and I jumped at the opportunity to help the cause after hearing about the event that the Gorilla Yogis were holding for Jack. My good friend Ryan Eggen, an awesome Yoga instructor here in the Twin Cities, had been helping teach the Gorilla Yogi classes for some time, and I loved what they were doing in the community. When he told me about Jack’s story it really hit home. Being the father to two little boys around Jack’s age I was deeply moved to photograph the event, in an effort to help spread awareness for Jack, and for all those in need of donors out there.

The “Live, Give, Love” 75 minute Vinyasa practice for Jack took place inside the Thorp Building in NE Minneapolis. It felt so good to be there, and to hear from Jack’s parents, his siblings, and to see the support of the heartfelt community all around them. What a special day, and the best part…there was a very happy ending to this whole story. An amazingly brave woman named Mekea donated her kidney to Jack and he is doing better than ever. Read the beautiful story here written by Minneapolis | St. Paul Magazine.

Be sure to check out Gorilla Yogis too, and all the wonderful things they are up to…from their website: “GORILLA YOGIS is a movement, a migration to yoga beyond studio walls. Gorilla Yogis gather to practice urban jungle yoga in unexpected, offbeat places. In parks, on street corners, in museums, art galleries, at cafes, in restaurants, in music venues, on barges on the Mississippi River, on rooftop decks, on farms, in barns, in lofts, abandoned spaces, baseball fields. It’s yoga out of captivity. Each month we host donation based yoga events where we raise money for organizations that are doing hard work to make this jungle an awesome place to live.”

The Thorp Building interior in Northeast Minneapolis, steel trusses overhead and rows of coloured yoga mats laid out across the concrete floor

Low angle along a rainbow-gradient yoga mat, the far end of the room lined with people waiting for class to begin

A volunteer in a full gorilla costume and red sunglasses stands with hands at the heart, a child's raised hand in the foreground

A family stands together with their arms around each other before the benefit class, friends seated on mats around them

A man crouches down to talk with a small child at the front of the room, the class lined up along the wall behind

Jack's family at the front of the room, his mother laughing into a microphone with her children gathered around her

Wide view of the Thorp Building with mats laid out and the whole class standing along the walls

Rows of mats laid out across the concrete with the whole class gathered along the far wall before practice begins

A mother holds her son on her hip, both of them smiling, his father standing beside them

From behind, a mother holds her son and looks out over a room of people lying in savasana for him

A mother stands barefoot holding her son while the whole room lies in savasana around them

A woman reaches both arms overhead at the front of the room, the class mirroring her on their mats

The instructor stands barefoot teaching while the class moves through a pose around her

The whole room in a low lunge with arms raised, the instructor at the right with a microphone

A baby in pink lies on a brown blanket on the concrete between two adults resting on their mats

A woman sits cross-legged holding her baby while people rest on mats either side of her

A woman moves through a lunge with her baby draped over her shoulder

A boy sits up on his mat and looks around while the room around him folds forward into child's pose

The class in downward dog, the instructor walking the rows between them

A singer with a tattooed arm raised points to the ceiling while a keyboard player in a wide-brimmed hat plays behind him

A woman holds downward dog while a small child kneels on the red mat beside her, looking up

Children hold hands in a circle and play together while the adults practise around them

The room in downward dog seen from floor level, a steel post rising through the middle of the frame

A woman in chair pose with her arms raised, shot low against the trusses of the ceiling

A row of practitioners in warrior two, arms extended, the line running the length of the room

A small boy stands behind the yellow Gorilla Yogis donation box while the class folds into child's pose behind him

A young boy in a white t-shirt sits on the floor and smiles back over his shoulder

A man in a white t-shirt looks up toward the ceiling of the old industrial room

A man stands with his hands behind his back watching rows of practitioners in downward dog

A woman sings into a microphone beside the speaker while the class rests on their mats below her

A woman holds a standing side bend with her hands clasped overhead, a man practising beside her

A woman folds forward with her hands clasped behind her back and smiles upside down at the camera

A boy kneels on his mat among the standing adults and looks up at the class around him

A boy kneels holding a phone with a little girl in a pink tutu beside him, the class in triangle pose around them

Two women stand with their hands at heart centre, the room full of practitioners behind them

A man and a woman stand with hands at heart and eyes closed, her tree-and-roots tattoo visible on her arm

Three women stand with hands at heart and eyes closed in the middle of the class

Two women in profile with their hands pressed together at the heart, eyes closed

A woman with teal earrings stands with her hands at heart centre, eyes closed, beside another practitioner

Close view of two hands pressed together overhead against the ceiling trusses

A woman in leg warmers moves through an extended side angle, a man practising on the mat behind her

From behind, a woman with botanical arm tattoos reaches her hands overhead into a steeple

A young man in a striped vest holds warrior two with his arms extended, the class continuing behind him

A woman smiles among a crowd of practitioners all holding their arms out to the side

The volunteer in the gorilla costume throws both arms wide while a man beside him holds his hands at the heart

The whole room jogging in place together, laughing, mats scattered across the concrete

The class balances in tree pose with their arms raised, a woman in a yellow tank at the centre

A young boy in a world-map t-shirt holds up a phone and grins

A group of practitioners laughing together, the gorilla costume visible behind them

A man in a Superman t-shirt speaks to the room through a microphone

A row of practitioners in warrior three, hands clasped behind their backs, bodies level

Looking down at a woman in downward dog, her hands pressed flat on a blue mat

A woman bends into a side twist and smiles upside down, a djembe drum standing in front of her

A woman in a revolved pose smiles at the camera from upside down while the class practises around her

The whole room seated cross-legged on their mats, facing the front and listening

The class seated in a wide circle holding hands across the floor of the Thorp Building

The circle of practitioners raise their joined hands together above their heads

The seated circle holding hands, seen from floor level across the room

A woman sings into a microphone while the class holds a deep squat around her

A woman lies back on her mat and draws one knee into her chest

A woman holds a shoulderstand with her legs straight up, the class resting on mats behind her

A small boy stands among rows of adults lying in savasana on the concrete floor

The whole room lying in savasana, rows of people on coloured mats across the concrete

Two women sing together, one playing a harmonium, the other holding the microphone

One singer passes the microphone to the other beside the harmonium

A man and a woman address the seated room from the front, the class listening on their mats

A woman holds a small child while speaking to the seated room at the end of class

Four of the organisers stand arm in arm and smile for the camera after the benefit class

Three people hold handstands together against the white brick wall beneath the windows

Minneapolis wedding photographer Jackson Tyler Eddy

Jackson Tyler Eddy is a Minneapolis wedding photographer with 17+ years behind the camera, hundreds of weddings photographed, and a place in The Knot Hall of Fame. His landscape work has been featured by National Geographic in its Daily Dozen, and that same artist's eye carries into every wedding he photographs. Available for weddings throughout Minnesota and destinations worldwide.

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