Maria’s Love Foundation raises $10K at annual ‘Kick-A-Thon’
BY JESSICA MILITELLO
On Saturday, Oct. 19, Maria’s
Love Foundation held
its sixth annual Kick-A-Thon
at New York Martial Arts
Academy in Astoria where
students and local residents
stopped by to support the
event and raise money for
the non-profit’s mission of
helping families in need to
pay medical bills.
The event included carnival
games, prizes, face painting,
and a bouncy house,
along with light refreshments.
Students from the
school’s children and adult
classes signed up to kick to
meet this year’s goal of raising
$10,000 for four children
from St. Mary’s Hospital in
Bayside to start locomotor
training.
The organization’s founder,
Antri Orfanos started
working with St. Mary’s
Hospital after spending time
reaching out to hospitals in
the area to find patients who
were in need of financial
assistance.
“We started working with
St. Mary’s hospital in April
2016,” said Orfanos. “I was
really excited to work with
them specifically because
they are a children’s hospital.
We have helped over 21
children get wheelchairs or
other medical equipment
needed or helped families
pay for locomotor training.”
Four children named Ariyah,
Denis, Jake, and Austin
from St. Mary’s Hospital
were the event’s focus for
raising funds.
Each child has severe
medical issues that were developed
from birth or from
the result of a serious accident
that put them in need
of locomotor training which
consists of a process of rehabilitation
after serious spinal
cord injury has taken place.
Maria’s Love Foundation
has its main office in the
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, location
of New York Martial
Arts Academy and has been
working with the school
since it was founded in order
to raise funds to help families
pay exorbitant medical bills
in the instance of sickness
or accidents that are not always
fully covered by health
insurance, or not covered at
all in instances of families
without any insurance.
Maria’s Love held its first
kick-a-thon in 2013, and it
was such a great success for
raising money and a fun time
that it became one of the organization’s
yearly fund raising
events. This year, over 20
students from the school volunteered
to do as many kicks
Photo courtesy of Antri Orfanos
as they can in one minute.
Prior to the kick-a-thon students
acquire sponsors who
pledge an amount of their
choice per kick in order to
raise funds to meet the nonprofit’s
goal.
One student of almost two
years, Allea Summers, personally
resonated with the organization’s
mission to help families
with unsurmountable debt
in the face of terrible illness.
“Cancer has affected my
family personally and I know
the painful reality of family
members not having access
to the proper care they need,”
said Summers. “That’s what
inspired my donation this
year.”
After three rounds of
kicks, students completed
1900 kicks and exceeded the
organization’s goal by raising
over $10,000. Other students
also volunteered with
assisting in holding pads for
kicking, carnival games, and
just showing up to support a
good cause. Overall the event
was extremely successful and
more importantly made its
goal of helping those in need.
“We raised over $10,000,”
said Orfanos. “That means
those amazing children at St.
Mary’s Children’s Hospital will
receive a lot of help towards
their locomotor training.”
To learn more about Maria’s
Love Foundation, or if
you or someone you know are
facing financial burdens due
to medical bills, go to www.
Mariaslovefoundation.org or
www.nymaa.com.
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