YogaCAN Returns to Naples, Raising Funds for Cancer-Affected Families

Cancer Alliance Network's YogaCAN fundraiser returns to Baker Park's Gomez Center lawn in Naples on April 12 for its 13th consecutive year, bringing the local yoga community together in service of a cause that has directed over $250,000 to cancer-affected families across Southwest Florida since 2013.

The event begins at 9:00 a.m. and is led by Debi Grilo, owner of Practice Yoga, whose studio has anchored the gathering since its earliest years. The all-levels outdoor class incorporates a crystal bowl sound healing session and is open to participants ages 6 and older. Tickets are $55 for adults and $20 for children ages 6 to 12. VIP packages at $500 include preferred seating, a gift bag, and a $100 Urban Meditation gift card. Organizers recommend registering in advance through the Cancer Alliance Network's event page; door availability is not guaranteed.

All proceeds stay in Collier and Lee counties, channeled toward non-medical financial assistance for families in active treatment: rent, mortgage payments, utility bills, and transportation costs that health insurance does not touch. Those expenses can quietly destabilize a household already stretched thin by a diagnosis, and addressing them directly is what has kept this event returning to Baker Park year after year.

YogaCAN grew from JaneCAN, a community yoga class organized to support Jane Waltzer as she and her family faced breast cancer. Following Jane's passing, her husband Dr. Joel Waltzer, a Naples dermatologist and yoga teacher at Practice Yoga, built the annual fundraiser around her legacy of community and service. That first gathering in 2013 drew roughly 200 participants and generated $30,000. Thirteen editions and a quarter-million dollars later, the Gomez Center lawn is still where Naples shows up for its neighbors.