12 Mar 2012

Charity Projects

I want to give a shout out to a couple of BJJ-related charity projects that I have been honoured to be involved with in some small way:

TAP CANCER OUT
Tap Cancer Out (TCO) began last year as a mission to use the power of the BJJ community to raise funds for cancer research.  Headed by Jon Thomas, the non profit organisation produces patches, t-shirts, events and other activities all in aid of various cancer charities. The beneficiary for 2012 will be the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society. TCO have just announced a novel tournament format in which entrants must be fundraisers.


The design above is a sneak preview of artwork for a t-shirt I have designed for TCO, along with assistance from some of my friends, including Scramble. All profits from the tee will go towards TCO. The tee will be released in a few weeks. when it does I'll write about this design a little more as it involves an interesting back story.
Website: http://www.tapcancerout.org/
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/TapCancerOut


MIXED MARTIAL HEARTS
Popular Texan based website The Caged Door have just started a series of fund raising activities under the banner of 'Mixed Martial Hearts' which raises funds for Heartgift.org. This charity provides lifesaving surgery to repair congenital heart defects in children who live in countries where this kind of medical care is not available.


The t-shirt above has just been printed and proceeds from the sale will go towards the Mixed Martial Hearts charity. The sponsors on the back have kindly donated some aspect or other of their time and expertise. I offered my support and also found a graphic designer (Scott Miller) and a printer (Handprint Store) willing to donate their time to create the tees so I guess that's why my logo is on the back.
Website: http://www.thecagedoor.net/perspectives/mixed-martial-hearts


Gi Drive
Gi Drive is the brainchild of fellow gi reviewer Brendan Hufford. With the help of his extensive network of BJJ friends Brendan has managed to acquire over 100 second hand but still very usable BJJ uniforms. In order to send them to the communities in Brazil that need them, he needs to raise over $4,000. and he's doing this with a series of novel and interesting auctions and offers on his website.
He reached out and asked if I could contribute in some way so I thought I would offer my last ever honey badger rashguard and a bunch of Meerkatsu designed t-shirts. To be honest I thought they might not really be much interest but when he posted them up on his Gi Drive website they were gone within minutes!


The photo above shows just a few of the many gis he has collected to give away to communities in Brazil that want to train jiu jitsu but do not have the money to buy uniforms.

Website: http://beta.indiegogo.com/gidrive
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/GiDrive


Good luck to all the charities listed here. I hope my small contribution was able to make a difference. I hope readers might also be convinced enough by these causes to donate or offer their support. Even if they do not wish to support, liking a Facebook page and sharing the page on their walls can really help bring these charities out to a wider audience.

Cheers.


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About the Author

Meerkatsu

Author & Artist

Meerkatsu is the artist name for BJJ black belt Seymour Yang.

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