Basket Brigade Returns to Martial Arts Family Fitness

Martial Arts Family Fitness (MAFF), a family-owned and operated school dedicated to improving lives through martial arts, announced today that for the eighth consecutive year it is coordinating an Adopt-a-Family program for Thanksgiving. Students, instructors and staff of the school will work together to feed less fortunate families in the Santa Barbara area as part of a national project called the “Thanksgiving Basket Brigade.”

“Thanksgiving is a very important time of the year for many of us,” said Melodee Meyer, co-owner of Martial Arts Family Fitness. “Our ‘family’ of martial artists, instructors, fitness students and staff have fed over 1,000 families since we started in 2010. This year we continue our tradition of providing complete Thanksgiving meals to local families that otherwise might not be able to celebrate and enjoy the holiday. As a martial arts school, we believe that it is our responsibility to help others and make our community a better place to live for everyone. This is one simple way for us to express gratitude for this past year.”

The Adopt-a-Family program encourages fitness and martial arts students, staff and their families to donate money that is used to purchase food, which in turn is included in food baskets. Students and staff assemble the baskets and then distribute them to families that have been identified. Donations start at $30, and a $60 donation fills a basket with a complete dinner for the adopted family. Each basket includes all the makings of a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, including a turkey, stuffing, vegetables, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, butter and pie. Baskets will be assembled on Saturday, November 18 at Martial Arts Family Fitness, located at 122 E. Gutierrez Street. Assembly will begin at 10:00 AM, and delivery right after until 1:00 PM.

“The annual Basket Brigade provides an opportunity to become unified to accomplish good in our community,” added Karina Muñoz of Martial Arts Family Fitness and coordinator of this year’s Basket Brigade. “It is a time to come together and share the love for others and pass that example to our children and youth in the community.  It will be an overwhelming feeling of joy everyone will feel on Saturday which is much needed. Once again, we are partnering with the Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara, Transition House of Santa Barbara and St. Vincent’s Garden of Santa Barbara, and are grateful for their assistance in identifying families that may not otherwise celebrate Thanksgiving in the same manner that most of us do. As a school and a business, we have a lot to be grateful for and part of who we are is to give thanks and share in this gratitude. We invite everyone in the community to come by and participate in this fulfilling event. If anyone is unable to attend but would like to donate to help feed a family they can call us at 805-963-6233.”

“This is by far my favorite event, and the most important event, that our school is involved in,” added Grandmaster Dave Wheaton, co-owner of Martial Arts Family Fitness. “Our incredible volunteers will assemble and deliver the baskets with cards created by our youth students to the pre-selected families. It is always amazing to see the reaction of the families that receive these baskets. We are so proud of our students for all their hard work in making this a successful community event where we do our part in taking care of each other.”

About Martial Arts Family Fitness
Celebrating its 15th year in business, Martial Arts Family Fitness is an award winning school that opened its doors in Santa Barbara in 2002.  The Chief Instructor, Grandmaster Dave Wheaton, has trained in martial arts for over 50 years and is a ninth dan in Hapkido, a seventh dan in Taekwondo and is the founder of Hapkido International, an organization that teaches his unique martial arts curriculum of Dynamic Circle Hapkido to many schools across the United States.  Martial Arts Family Fitness teaches martial arts and fitness classes to adults and children, specializing in children’s life skills, youth leadership and family fitness, and is consistently voted “Best Martial Arts School” in Santa Barbara. For information on Martial Arts Family Fitness visit www.kickboxers.com or call 805.963.6233.