Friday, January 17, 2025
Popkin’s Brogna Jujitsu held two kick-a-thons to raise money to feed families on Nov. 9. All proceeds went to the Long Island Cares organization.
The initial goal was to raise $25 per student, which, according to Long Island Cares, provides 19.25 pounds of food and 15.75 meals.
When the kick-a-thon first occurred, the donations were near $2,000. Ultimately, the dojo came together to award $5,000 dollars to Long Island Cares. The check presentation was on Dec. 9.
Theresa Redlein, Community Coordinator for LIC, presented the dojo with the facsimile check and thanked them for their hard work. Long Island Cares provides meals and services to over 221,000 Long Islanders, 65,000 of them being children.
“For every $10 raises, six meals are provided to the community,” Redlein said. “The $5,000 that Popkin’s Brogna raised will provide 3,050 meals to those in need.”
The organization was pleased to receive such a hefty donation but the kids involved were even happier to do it. It has been reported that they keep asking their dojo masters when the next one is.
“I think the kids realize how fun it was and the opportunities they had to make a difference,” Senpai Nick Brogna said. “They started asking when’s the next one? When can we do something like this again? It really showed us that the kids enjoyed it for one, and that they appreciated having the opportunity.”
According to the Long Island Cares website, children who lack access to food are more likely than their peers to experience behavioral issues, reduced ability to learn social skills, and impaired cognitive learning – even permanent brain damage. Additionally, the health effects of hunger range from lack of stamina and increased illness – which increases missed work time – to feelings of hopelessness and despair.
It was Sensei Joseph’s idea to partner with Long Island Cares of all the organizations in the region.
“The company that I work for during the day did an event where we went there and we helped package all the food,” he said. “When I saw the size and how vast it was, what was going on I said you know what? We can build it out. And I wanted to help out Long Island, you know?”
Next year, the dojo plans on asking more martial arts schools to join the kick-a-thon, in an effort to give back even more. The plan is already in motion for bigger and better donations.
With $5,000 raised in just two short minutes of kicking and some familial participation, the sky could be the limit if and when the dojo makes a whole day out of it.
