Champion Taekwon-Do assists Toys for Tots through fundraiser

By Lethbridge Herald on December 7, 2023.

Herald Photo by Justin Seward Otto Robertson does one of his 72 kicks while mother Neena holds the paddle during Champion Taekwon-DoÕs Kick-A-Thon fundraiser on Thursday night.

Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

There were thousands and thousands of kicks going on at Champion Taekwon-Do on Thursday night.

That’s because their students, who are anywhere from 4 to 74 years-old, did 23,149  kicks  to a paddle collectively while raising nearly $20,000 through pledges in their annual Kick-A-Thon fundraiser in support of the Salvation Army’s Toys for Tots Program for over Christmas.

Students had to do as many kicks as they could in a minute.

The total number of kicks exceeded the initial 20,000 and the fundraising goal was $20,000.

The Salvation Army distributes toys and gifts to children in need through the program and there is the option to come in and do personal shopping or let the organization shop for you.

“So I think one of the big reasons why it’s so important for us to host something like this, is as marshal artists, I really believe in our community and we have two parts,”  said Josh Dumoulin, Champion Taekwon-Do owner.

“We have our internal community here as Champion and then we have the community that we live in and this community here provides a lot for our family. And so, in a way, it’s us being able to use the community that we’ve built here to help the community in Lethbridge here.”

Champion encourages members to help out at the Salvation Army.

“We’ve gone and helped out at night and what we do is we help people with their shopping,” said Dumoulin.

Students learned  philanthropy and had a sense of  pride in their abilities to make a difference.

The taekwon-do organization is  heading to Toys “R” Us on Tuesday morning to buy toys with the funds raised and then deliver to the Salvation Army after for the Toys for Tots drive.