Now more than a year into the pandemic and its impact on the region, comes another story of the unprecedented way in which some small business enterprises have been pummeled by the coronavirus.
READY Taw Kwon Do of Benton Harbor reeling. The work of Grandmaster Al Smith and his positive influence on the young people of our region is legendary, but it is also seriously at risk thanks to COVID-19.
The acronym READY stands for Reclaiming Equipping and Directing Youth, something that Smith has done for years. Unfortunately, his enterprise has been forced by the pandemic to contend with many unforeseen and unprecedented challenges, not the least of which is a backlog of unpaid rent resulting from state-mandated closures during much of 2020.
William & Angela Sekerka, who with their 7- and 11-year old children have been training with Grandmaster Smith since last fall are deeply concerned about the fate of READY Tae Kwon Do and have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help raise dollars to wipe out back rent and keep the business running.
They are asking everyone interested in making a difference to consider making a donation of any size to help make an impact and sustain the training center’s operations.
Grandmaster Smith’s operation is a nonprofit martial arts studio that has provided lessons and life guidance to area youth, including at risk youth for many years in our region. You can learn a great deal more online at this link: http://www.readytaekwondo.org
Angela says, “We have grown to really care about Grandmaster Smith and what he’s doing for the community. Unfortunately COVID-related closures have hit them pretty hard, and we’re trying to help raise money for him to pay back rent he owes his landlord.”
Here’s a link to the GoFundMe page for anyone who would like to help the cause:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/bills-fundraiser-for-ready-tae-kwon-do?
