Thursday, May 22, 2008

Giving back

I was sent an article from Chicago about my old flight instructor, Steve Bonk. Steve is the founder of an event that benefits a care facility in the Chicago area named Park Lawn. Steve was also taking kenpo a few years ago and we crossed paths when he came to one of my seminars.
What makes me glad about seeing things like this is that he is instrumental in giving back to his community. Steve does it by promoting his event, which is a motorcycle run. They raised $15,000 for the center last year.
Last week I was part of a run to Tampa to present the Special Operations Warrior Foundation with the proceeds of a run we had here in Ft. Myers in April that raised just over $11,000. They told me I had gotten the most items contributed for the silent auction, and I thank those of you who read this that donated. Like the Chicago newspaper article said, "bikers are very generous people". Bo McCormick here in Florida did a great job with the event.
Kyle Zwarg just ran a free women's self-defense class at his Ft. Myers studio,a tradition he keeps alive from when I ran the school. I firmly believe in these types of activities to give back to our communities. We come from the warrior tradition, and the Japanese word samurai means "to serve".
Keep up the good work, guys.

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