- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
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Hi, I know a lot of you in real life from spending the last decade competing and training. For those I don't know, my name is Kenny and I am a brown belt under Ryan Hall at 50/50 Jiu Jitsu in Falls Church, Virginia.
For the last couple years I've been slowly building a charity that benefits a social project in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. I've focused mainly on collecting gently used gear to donate for the children to use, and at this point, surpassed the goal I had set for myself in collecting items. I've already sent tons of boxes, but I'll be sending out weekly packages from now until I am out of kimonos (which will take awhile).
In addition to collecting gear, through this charity I've also helped to raise money to purchase new lights at Terere's social project, purchase meals for the children's competition team while competing in Sao Paulo, partially sponsor two athletes, and purchase and install a new water filtration/fountain system to provide the social project with clean drinking water. All in all, I've stretched the funds as far as they can possibly go, and have thankfully been able to help do a lot of cool stuff.
Now, my Checkmat teammates in Rio and I have a new goal. With the water fountain installed, the next challenge the social project faces is the state of the mats. To say they are in disrepair is an understatement. My aim is continue working with the Vieira Brothers Team Social Project to fundraise at home and help relieve some of the burden from my friends in the favlea, who wish to replace the damaged and ill-fitting mats.
In the past, I've raised money for the charity's budget by selling benefit t-shirts, auctioning training items, coming out of pocket and accepting donations. I am making one more run of benefit t-shirts (the same design as last time) to sell and raise money for those that are interested. Soon, I will have a second design available as well, and after I get some details ironed out with people I'll be collaborating with, I'll have a few other cool fundraising options as well!
If you are interested in purchasing a t-shirt, the best way to go about it is through my website www.vaicantagalo.com. This helps me stay organized and roughly estimate the size of my inventory. However, I will be ordering a few extras this go-round to sell at tournaments and in person. The pre-order will last through June and I will have the shirts shipped by July.
For more information, check out the website, which details the project. I've updated the NEWS section with all sorts of stuff that I've been working on, and news about people that I've been working with. If anyone has any questions, feel free to hit me up!
Below is a documentary video (make sure subtitles are on) about the social project and features the team I train with while in Brazil (Checkmat), the black belts I am working with to make this happen, and the children we are sponsoring.
Thanks for checking it out!
For the last couple years I've been slowly building a charity that benefits a social project in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. I've focused mainly on collecting gently used gear to donate for the children to use, and at this point, surpassed the goal I had set for myself in collecting items. I've already sent tons of boxes, but I'll be sending out weekly packages from now until I am out of kimonos (which will take awhile).
In addition to collecting gear, through this charity I've also helped to raise money to purchase new lights at Terere's social project, purchase meals for the children's competition team while competing in Sao Paulo, partially sponsor two athletes, and purchase and install a new water filtration/fountain system to provide the social project with clean drinking water. All in all, I've stretched the funds as far as they can possibly go, and have thankfully been able to help do a lot of cool stuff.
Now, my Checkmat teammates in Rio and I have a new goal. With the water fountain installed, the next challenge the social project faces is the state of the mats. To say they are in disrepair is an understatement. My aim is continue working with the Vieira Brothers Team Social Project to fundraise at home and help relieve some of the burden from my friends in the favlea, who wish to replace the damaged and ill-fitting mats.
In the past, I've raised money for the charity's budget by selling benefit t-shirts, auctioning training items, coming out of pocket and accepting donations. I am making one more run of benefit t-shirts (the same design as last time) to sell and raise money for those that are interested. Soon, I will have a second design available as well, and after I get some details ironed out with people I'll be collaborating with, I'll have a few other cool fundraising options as well!
If you are interested in purchasing a t-shirt, the best way to go about it is through my website www.vaicantagalo.com. This helps me stay organized and roughly estimate the size of my inventory. However, I will be ordering a few extras this go-round to sell at tournaments and in person. The pre-order will last through June and I will have the shirts shipped by July.
For more information, check out the website, which details the project. I've updated the NEWS section with all sorts of stuff that I've been working on, and news about people that I've been working with. If anyone has any questions, feel free to hit me up!
Below is a documentary video (make sure subtitles are on) about the social project and features the team I train with while in Brazil (Checkmat), the black belts I am working with to make this happen, and the children we are sponsoring.
Thanks for checking it out!
