LCTA and Blue Earth County Library

Its been awhile since the last blog update.  Everything these days is saturated with news updates and new information on a daily basis, perhaps moderation is best.  It is certainly effective, in our case.  On June 1st, 2011 Lee's Champion Taekwondo Academy, Mankato started a small book drive to benefit the Blue Earth County Library. 

Our SWAT Demonstration team was scheduled to perform on June 22nd for the Library's Summer Reading Program, so we decided, what better way to promote what we do than by giving a demonstration and contributing to the library ourselves.

Fortunately, LCTA families also found worth in our effort, and in just 3 weeks, we were able to compile over 330 books that we donated to the Library on June 22nd.  Below you will see some pictures of our Book Drive, and a semi-candid shot of some SWAT teammates preparing for their demonstration (some serious, some relaxed).

Thank you very much to all who contributed to the Book Drive.  The librarians were very impressed with the quality and quantity of books we were able to donate.

Michael Manderfeld

Alabama Thank You Video from Tom Callos

Alabama Project Interviews

This is a 3 min video that contains interviews from Staff and Volunteers at HERO.  You'll hear from Tom Callos, who was instrumental in guiding me and LCTA into this partnership.  You'll also hear from several volunteers and staff, including Pam Dorr, who is the executive director of HERO Housing.

Day One Compilation Video

This video shows some of the footage from our first day of work.  Although you do not see it in the video, our day started with exercise and warm ups at 5:30 am.  The whole event, we slept in a closed down restaurant in Greensboro.  We slept on the floor and in close proximity. 

Our 'MN Team' was assigned to work with Dan, from Hero Housing, on the windows portion of the school house renovation.  This included piecing together old window frames, replacing glass, re-glazing the window panes, painting the frames, framing the interior walls of the school house, and installing the refurbished windows.

You'll also notice a lot of other workers in the videos.  Other projects for the school house included building a ramp, building a deck and stairs, patching and siding the exterior walls, exterior brick work, interior framing and building of stairs, ect.

Also, all of the staff and volunteers at HERO housing were very welcoming and appreciative of the money we raised, and the hard work we put in.  HERO is a wonderful organization doing remarkable things within their community

Michael Manderfeld

View Footage Here

Back Home

Hello Everyone,

We've returned from our weekend in Alabama.  It was filled with long days of construction work, training and of course some fun (but there aren't many places we don't have fun at).  Here are two quick videos of the HERO project we were able to work on while we were there.  Consider it a prelude to all of the footage to come.


Also, in the videos, and subsequent footage, you'll notice that the project we worked on from April 7th-10th was that of a renovation of an old school house.  For several reasons, Ms. Georgia's house project was not yet set to start while we were there (probably in August).  However, please know that the Staff of Hero Housing thanks everyone for all of their contributions.  All of the money we raised goes directly towards Ms. Georgia, but unfortunately, we weren't able to physically help in that project's construction during our trip.

We did, however, visit Ms. Georgia's current house, where we had a nice conversation with her.  She is so elated and appreciative of all of the help from our students, family, and friends!

And...We're Off! (Fundraiser Total!!!)

Holy Smokes! This has been a wonderful project so far...and Master Winkler, Jeff Bodnar, Steve Romnes, and myself are just about to head down to Alabama tomorrow morning.  We'll depart MN around 11am and fly into Birmingham, Alabama.  From there, we'll travel by car to Greensboro and connect with everyone else at the Hero Housing location there.  Wednesday night we'll meet everyone and learn about what we'll be doing for the next few days.  Thursday morning (I hope not too early! ack!) we'll begin our construction phase, which will continue through Friday and Saturday.  In the between hours of the day, we'll be in contact with dozens of other martial artists and Hero housing cooperators.  We'll have a chance to learn about the community and perhaps even do a demonstration (as previous year participants have shared their love of martial arts with the local school.)

But please, look forward to footage of our 'hands on' project once we return. 

I've said it to many people in person, I've said it on Facebook, on this blog and in the Newsletter, but I don't think I'll truly be able to fully thank everyone who has been so wonderful and supportive in this fundraiser.  Thank you so much!  Although I am surprised with how well we did,  I'm not surprised that we met our goal...after all, I simply followed our Black Belt Success Cycle (See kids, it works for real!)

1) Know what you want
2) Have a plan
3) Have a successful coach
4) Take Consistent Action
5) Review your Progress
6) Renew your Goal

Initially, we launched our fundraiser at the beginning of February with a goal to raise $2,000.  I thought it was ambitious and would certainly give us a run for our money (excuse the pun).  But only five and a half weeks into the event, we had toppled our initial goal, which eventually led to us setting two subsequent goals for $2,500 and then $3,000.  Well, my friends, I am proud to tell you that on the eve of our Alabama departure our total contributions raised for HERO Housing is $4,440!

So it seems, 'I can always do better than I think I can,' isn't only applicable to white belts...


Respectfully,
Michael Manderfeld

Close to Departure

Click To Read - Thank you Letter

Word Construction

Only a Little over a Week until 4 Black Belts From Lee's Champion Taekwondo Academy Leave for Alabama 
 

Here are 2 interesting images I created using these websites: Tagxedo and Wordle, respectively.

The Art of Non Conformity

"Never despise small beginnings, and don't belittle your own accomplishments. Remember them and use them as inspiration as you go on to the next thing. When you venture outside your comfort zone, wherever the starting point may be, it's kind of a big deal." ~ Chris Guillebeau

This was a great quote and website which aligns with the spirit of our project. This was provided to me and this Blog by Jed Stark, LCTA Leadership Team member, 2nd Degree Black Belt, and very good friend.


Visit the site by clicking here:

WOW Zone Footage and Update

Thank you to everyone that came out to the WOW zone and had fun! Watch this video to see what we were up to, and our most recent Contributions Figure.

Article from The Training Academy

Click image to read the article regarding our Hero housing project. This is from The Training Academy, an online Martial Arts blog.

Alabama Call For Help

Check out this Video from Mr. Gary Engels. He is a Martial Artist from Wisconsin. Great Video!

Alabama Call For Help. from Gary Engels on Vimeo.

Worldwide?

Modern Martial Artist has been viewed in 10 different countries across the world, has had over 1550+ views in 6 weeks, and has helped raise awareness and nearly $3,000 for Herohousing.org

 

 

Join us at the WOW ZONE!

In order to celebrate our success, hard work and accomplishments during this event...and of course, help contribute.  The WOW Zone is being very generous with this special, and their willingness to support HERO Housing.  Thank you WOW Zone!

(CLICK FOR LARGER VIEW)

Thank You, Congratulations, and Keep Supporting!

Hello everyone, this is just an update that one week after we renewed our contributions goal to $2,500, we've already topped it!  Therefore we've set our third and final goal: $3,000 before we depart for Alabama!

Our success and your generosity is unprecedented, and though we are not through yet, I, personally, am very thankful for everyone's support in making this a successful crowd-funding event. 

Michael Manderfeld

Ms. Georgia's Current House

This is why we are helping...

Underneath...

This Video is a 5 week update and an invitation to others to become involved:

A Nice Read from Tom Callos

View HERE

The Ultimate Black Belt Test

This is a movie of the 100's Ultimate Black Belt Test -- created by UBBT alumni and 100 member, Academy Award winning filmmaker, Nancy Walzog.  It is important to note that LCTA is not fully involved with the UBBT this year, aside from our support of the HERO Housing build. - - View the Video Here

LCTA, Mankato on Facebook

A glimpse into some of our On the Mat work - This is a new Facebook Page for us!

Lee's Chamption Taekwondo Academy, Mankato