A Lower Mainland karate studio is going to be transformed into a Nerf-filled Thunderdome in the coming days as part of a new fundraising event.
Suzanne Saccani, owner of Maple Ridge Karate Center, will be trying to raise funds for her senior black belt students to take a trip to Okinawa, Japan, to see and practise at the birthplace of karate.
According to Saccani, this is the first time her studio has been able to send students on this trip, with the group of 19 and 20-year-olds particularly excited about learning karate overseas.
“We’ve been fundraising for this trip since last year doing car washes, pub nights, and hot dog sales in the community,” said Saccani.
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This particular fundraiser on Saturday, Feb. 11, will provide plenty of Nerf guns to the children who attend and let them battle each other in an all-out Nerf war.
Parents will be able to drop their children off, for the 6 p.m. start time, and then leave to enjoy a parent’s night out for a few hours while the kids partake in Nerf battles and a pizza party.
Saccani said she got the idea for this fundraiser from the many birthday parties that the karate club used to host.
Tickets for the event are $35 per child, which goes toward the goal of raising $5,000 for the upcoming trip to Japan.
In order to attend the fundraiser, children need to be at least eight years old, which Saccani explained is due to the fact that Nerf battles don’t work very well with children that are too young.
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Although the karate center has been around for approximately eight years now, Saccani said that this two-week trip marks a special occasion for the martial arts school.
“It’s our first time sending black belt students on a trip like this,” she said. “We have another trip planned for spring 2024, which will be for our junior black belt students who are all 12 to 15 years old.”
The fundraiser will be held on Feb. 11 from 6 to 9 p.m. and is open to everyone, even non-members of the school. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Maple Ridge Karate Center or by sending a direct Facebook message to their Facebook account.
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