Students from Kootenay Christian Martial Arts and Selkirk Taekwondo gathered Saturday to participate in Breaking Boards Breaking Chains, a Martial Arts for Justice (MAJ) fundraiser.
Castlegar Mayor Lawrence Chernoff joined the action during the event by breaking a board after a bit of technique coaching. “When I see causes like this and I look at things that are happening around the world, we as a community don’t really see what is happening in the rest of the world,” said Chernoff. “When you look at countries that don’t have justice — in Canada we have justice … we all take it for granted. People need to understand what happens in the rest of the world.”
MAJ has raised over $87,000 in the past few years in support of International Justice Mission (IJM). IJM is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. Martial arts schools across BC and as far away as Toronto are participating in the event. Funds from this year’s event will be supporting the rescue and recovery of child sexual assault victims in Bolivia.
For more information, or to donate go to martialartsforjustice.org.