90 Minute CKO Kickboxing Fundraiser

Hurricane Sandy. I'm sure anyone and everyone knows about this hurricane that took many lives and destroyed dozens upon dozens of houses, especially houses on the New Jersey coast. It also destroyed our shore... it's sad, not only for the people who lost everything, but for those who spent their summers down the shore and turned moments into memories. We can no longer go "dts," at least not yet - clean up will take months.

While I wasn't greatly affected, I know others who were - those who lost their home, including everything in it... a home that now has to be demolished and built back up again, those who lost power for 7+ days, and those who simply lost a tree in their front yard. I provided my house as a safe haven for others to come and charge up, to chat and enjoy a healthy lunch, and to sleep when their house got too cold.

I wanted to do more though, much more. While I'd love to volunteer to clean up the shores, they aren't accepting too many volunteers, at least not yet. Instead they are asking that people donate money and supplies to help those in need. As soon as CKO Kickboxing announced that they'd be holding a fundraiser challenge, I signed up immediately. Those that signed up would donate $20, which would go to the Red Cross and participate in a 90 minute kickboxing challenge. They were also collecting supplies ranging from socks to toothpaste! Aside from the money, I had a couple of extra gallons of bleach and donated that, because I figured that during the clean up, it might be necessary to have. I also recruited my mom and my friend to join.

We arrived early that morning and claimed our bags, three in a row. We also began to stretch, and before you knew it we were faced with the 90 minute challenge of kickboxing! There were 6 trainers who took their turns pushing us to our limits, and I must admit it was intense, but well worth the sweat. I just kept thinking about all of the people that lost everything and that only made me punch and kick harder. I love kickboxing, so I loved the challenge, and it was great doing it with people I care about. We made it, though sweaty, we had finished!

I found out later that day that we had raised $6,000 to support Sandy Relief efforts and had collected a few tons of supplies. I couldn't have been any prouder at that moment, to realize that I had helped... no matter how bad I busted up my knuckles!