Hi, I’m Kristen, the mother of two karate athletes: Angelika, age 11, and Zachary, age 17.

At the USA Karate National Competition and Team Trials they both had some great performances! We are thrilled with the competition results described below, but this is new to us and we are finding the costs to be absolutely staggering, especially the flights to Paraguay! Would you please consider donating any amount to help the kids continue in the Pan Am and World karate competitions? Please read below about their exciting results...

Angelika competed in the brand new division, ages 10-11, for its inaugural year, and is now part of the USA Karate’s National Team for kumite! She and I will be traveling to Asuncion, Paraguay, August 25th-31st. She will represent the United States on the karate world stage, as part of the U.S. Team, at the Pan Am Karate Federation’s Competition.

Although Zack did not get the result he wanted in the end, he is more determined than ever. Zachary fought 5 times in the 16-17 -76 kg division. At this level, it was a great achievement to make the final 4, and he had a very good showing. As a result, Zack is an alternate for the Paraguay PKF but will travel to Monterrey, Mexico, to proudly represent the United States at the K1 Junior League world-level competition!

There are very significant costs associated with this opportunity to represent the United States abroad. We are humbly asking if you could make any donation, large or small, to help Angelika get where she needs to be (and Mom too, as Angelika's chaperone). We would appreciate it so much if you could also share our fundraiser on your social media.

Any donations would pay for airfare, accommodations, USA Karate fees, as well as required gear for Angelika. Thank you so very much for reading this and for your consideration.

Action Photos by Farrah Rose