Please Help My Dear Friend AJ Esquer
Donation protected
Message from AJ on March 3, 2019: Hi everyone. This is AJ Esquer. I thank everyone from my heart for your generosity and kindness and kind inspiring words!Your generosity and kindness are a true blessing and an amazing expression of Goodness and Love that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Your generosity and kindness will help me complete my college studies, purchase important materials and tools I need to transition into the professional world, and face and deal with bills and obstacles of life with more confidence. I'm deeply grateful for the Love and Kindness you have blessed me with. It will always live within me as a motivating factor to face the various struggles and obstacles I encounter in life with an open and courageous heart. Love, kindness, generosity, goodness, compassion, and positivity are true living forces that we are all blessed to experience and express in life. And no matter where I find myself on this planet, l will be a force of Love and Goodness and Positivity. May the forces and light of Love and Goodness and Joy shine bright in your hearts and lives!!! I send everyone my Love and good energy. Stand strong and shine bright!!!
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Update on Feb 24, 2019: I know that AJ is so grateful for everyone’s help. He’s done an amazing job getting his life together since he left prison. He’s been so independent, so determined to get an education so he can be of use to others. As he says, "I know that no matter where I am on this planet, I will always share the Dharma's message of Goodness and Positivity and be a force for Good."
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Some of you might remember back in 1996 when I was the editor of Mandala Magazine, I received a letter from Arturo Esquer, in Pelican Bay Prison, who’d read a book by Lama Yeshe and wanted to know more about Buddhism. Liberation Prison Project started from there.
Arturo - he now calls himself AJ - wrote about his life in the November-December 1997 issue of Mandala; and again we featured him in the July-August 1998 issue about young Dharma practitioners. He was 21 at the time, and he’d been incarcerated since he was13.
Two years ago, amazingly, he was released! He’s now in Los Angeles and, at the age of 42, working very hard on getting himself set up in life. He’s nearly finished a course of study at Los Angeles Community College District and will receive his diploma in Film Production and Hollywood Cinema Production Resources, with speciality in the Art Department. He has received straight As in all his classes and achieved Full Time Dean’s Honor List — “a significant academic accomplishment for which you should be very proud,” wrote Dr. Ryan Cornner, the Vice Chancellor.
On top of his hundreds of hours of class and field work he has had to work at least 40 hours a week earning $8 an hour to pay his rent, car, food, etc., and often unexpected costs. He says in May he’ll graduate and then be qualified to work professionally.
Right now he needs a little extra to get through the next months. Already I’ve raised $1,000 for him and want to raise another $5,000. He said to me recently, "I keep reminding myself that there is no reason for me to stress about these bills and unpredictable challenging situations that arise in life. But at times such things can feel suffocating. Ultimately I know that trusting in Goodness and Positivity and continuing to do my best to be a force of goodness in the world is what counts most in life."
I am so happy to help AJ. He’s worked unbelievably hard the past many years, and I admire him greatly. Please offer what you can!
Photo: Kate taking a photo of me and AJ in a restaurant in Los Angeles, soon after his release from prison, in June 2017.
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Update on Feb 24, 2019: I know that AJ is so grateful for everyone’s help. He’s done an amazing job getting his life together since he left prison. He’s been so independent, so determined to get an education so he can be of use to others. As he says, "I know that no matter where I am on this planet, I will always share the Dharma's message of Goodness and Positivity and be a force for Good."
...
Some of you might remember back in 1996 when I was the editor of Mandala Magazine, I received a letter from Arturo Esquer, in Pelican Bay Prison, who’d read a book by Lama Yeshe and wanted to know more about Buddhism. Liberation Prison Project started from there.
Arturo - he now calls himself AJ - wrote about his life in the November-December 1997 issue of Mandala; and again we featured him in the July-August 1998 issue about young Dharma practitioners. He was 21 at the time, and he’d been incarcerated since he was13.
Two years ago, amazingly, he was released! He’s now in Los Angeles and, at the age of 42, working very hard on getting himself set up in life. He’s nearly finished a course of study at Los Angeles Community College District and will receive his diploma in Film Production and Hollywood Cinema Production Resources, with speciality in the Art Department. He has received straight As in all his classes and achieved Full Time Dean’s Honor List — “a significant academic accomplishment for which you should be very proud,” wrote Dr. Ryan Cornner, the Vice Chancellor.
On top of his hundreds of hours of class and field work he has had to work at least 40 hours a week earning $8 an hour to pay his rent, car, food, etc., and often unexpected costs. He says in May he’ll graduate and then be qualified to work professionally.
Right now he needs a little extra to get through the next months. Already I’ve raised $1,000 for him and want to raise another $5,000. He said to me recently, "I keep reminding myself that there is no reason for me to stress about these bills and unpredictable challenging situations that arise in life. But at times such things can feel suffocating. Ultimately I know that trusting in Goodness and Positivity and continuing to do my best to be a force of goodness in the world is what counts most in life."
I am so happy to help AJ. He’s worked unbelievably hard the past many years, and I admire him greatly. Please offer what you can!
Photo: Kate taking a photo of me and AJ in a restaurant in Los Angeles, soon after his release from prison, in June 2017.
Organizer and beneficiary
Robina Courtin
Organizer
Portland, OR
Arthur Esquer
Beneficiary
