Fundraiser gets a kick out of helping deliver toys for Christmas

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on December 2, 2021.

Herald photo by Al Beeber Champion Taekwon-Do owners Josh Dumoulin and Nicole Stratychuk, along with their sons Ryder and Rocky, pick out toys for the Salvation Army's Toys for Tots campaign Wednesday at Toys "R" Us.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Children in needy Lethbridge families are going to get a kick out of a fundraiser that will put toys under many Christmas trees.
Champion Taekwon-Do recently staged its annual kick-a-thon fundraiser, teaming up this time with the Toys for Tots campaign run by the Salvation Army as part of the city’s Christmas Hope endeavour.
Participants made more than 16,000 kicks in one minute and raised $17,000 for the toy campaign. On Wednesday morning, staff, families and members of Champion spent an hour at Toys “R” Us filling shopping carts for the Salvation Army which had two vans with open cargo doors waiting outside.
Josh Dumoulin, owner of the martial arts studio, teared up when describing what the event meant to him and his business which has students ranging in age from four to 70.
“We’re doing a big shopping spree so that way we can fill up the Salvation Army and the Toys for Tots drive so that way we can make sure a lot of needy families have their houses filled and hopefully have a great Christmas,” he said.
“We tried calculating how many shopping carts we’d be walking out with but we couldn’t even figure it out,” he said.
Shoppers included parents who volunteered their time to shop and load up the vans, he said.
“A big part of it is we work with a lot of kids and this time of the year can be really hard for a lot of families. We work with lots of kids all the time and I think it’s just something that’s always been special to us, so to be able to work with a group like this and be able to provide a lot of families that can’t have a Christmas the way some families can. And being able to work with them means a lot to us,” he said.
“You take into consideration all the stuff that’s happened with COVID and the last couple years for a lot of families can be really hard on them. So we just know us as a local business, a local martial arts studio, we know we can do something so that’s what we want to be able to do is be there for our community,” said Dumoulin.
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