Toronto Branch Charity Kickathon Raises a Record Amount!

2018 total = $15,500

On the hot and humid evening of Wednesday May 30, nine members of Shorinji Kempo Toronto Branch gathered at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Russell Street site for our 23rd Annual Shorinji Kempo Charity Kickathon for CAMH.

Meditation first

Every year in the month of May, Shorinji Kempo members worldwide perform some form of community service as a tribute to the memory of our founder, Doshin So (1911-1980). At Toronto Branch our chosen activity is to hold a charity event in support of CAMH's work in the field of drug addiction.

A bit of stretching...

After a period of warm-up and stretching, we began the Kickathon proper. Those of us who just came back from the Cornell Shorinji Kempo Camp were participating with sore backs and stiff muscles (sponsors - please note that you were getting your money's worth!).

The Kickathon begins...

After 500 continuous kicks with kiai (yell) our Kickathon came to a close.

Huffing and puffing

Thanks to incredibly generous sponsorship from individual and corporate donors, we were able to raise a record amount this year.  Our final tally for the 2018 event was a truly spectacular $15,000.  The running total of funds raised since our first Kickathon in 1996 now stands at $164,780.

Feel the burn!

Almost there...

We wish to express our deep gratitude to our loyal crew of wonderful sponsors for making this year's Kickathon such a great success.

Also, we wish to commend CAMH for their important work to stem the suffering resulting from drug addiction and Lidia at the CAMH Foundation for her expert help with the event logistics.

We're all done - next stop the chiropractor!

 See you again next year!

Gassho