Champion Martial Arts donates to Toys for Tots

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Champion Martial Arts in Oceanside is starting strong with its new non-profit organization, Operation Child Rescue. Through this initiative, members of the taekwondo studio collected nearly 1,500 toys from its 40 schools across Long Island, Brooklyn and Queens for its inaugural holiday toy drive.

On Dec. 9, about 24 Champion Martial Arts students volunteered their time to box the donations. They handed off the 1,479 toys to the Nassau division of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, who will deliver them to neighborhoods all over Long Island.

“We did this for the first time this year, and we’re very happy we got so many donations,” said Nadine Pace, owner and instructor at Champion Martial Arts in Oceanside and representative for Operation cR.

Pace organized the toy drive with Nassau Toys for Tots co-chair John Gravagna and Operation cR secretary William Dobie. Operation cR officially launched on Nov. 1 and aims to aid children who are hungry, neglected, orphaned or exploited.

“We are making the statement that we are not just fighting to end a specific cause, such as child hunger,” Operation cR’s website says. “We are fighting to impact as many causes as possible such as child hunger, child trafficking, promotion of child education and much more.”