Bob White Invitational Update

[vishalshukla]

Plans for the Bob White Invitational are moving full speed ahead. The offers of support from local businesses as well as our fellow Kenpoists have been overwhelming. It seems like we get a call or email every day from another great Kenpoist asking how they can help.

Once again all net proceeds from this event will be donated to the Royal Family Kids Camp of Newport Mesa (http://www.rfkc.org). RFKC has completed over 20 years of providing a free week of summer camp for children, ages 7 to 11, who have come from group homes and foster homes in Southern California. I urge you to visit the RFKC website. Some of the stories of what these kids have been through are truly heartbreaking. They need our help.

We are still actively seeking sponsors. If you or anybody you know is interested in supporting the Bob White Invitational, please see http://www.bobwhiteinvitational.com. Our promotional video does a great job of explaining the event and can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC3ykbpnPzk

Please feel free to forward the information to your friends, family, students and anybody else you think might be interested in supporting the BWI.

Many great Kenpoists will be guests at the tournament including Steve LaBounty, John Sepulveda, Ted Sumner, Ed Downey, Ed Parker Jr., Donnie Williams, Tom Bleecker, Paul Dye, David Hays, Bob Mitchell and many others. I have also heard from Larry Tatum and Ron Chapel. Both of these Kenpo greats are traveling that week but hope to be able to attend the BWI. As we hear from more guests I will post updates.

We look forward to a great event and thank you for your continuing support.

Respectfully,
Bob White
Virgil Bartolomucci
Vishal Shukla
Tournament Directors

 

[vishalshukla]

The support for the Bob White Invitational (http://www.bobwhiteinvitational.com) continues to grow. We are pleased to announce that Professor Rich Hale will be at the BWI and will be selling his Kenpo Journal. Mr. Hale has generously offered to donate all proceeds from the sales to the RFKC (http://www.rfkc.org).

We were talking about this at the “White House” Saturday night. The BWI may well be the best gathering of Kenpoists we have seen in a very long time. Here is a partial list (in no particular order) of people that should be there on 2/28/09:

Bob White, Steve LaBounty, John Sepulveda, Ted Sumner, David Hays, Ed Downey, Sergio Correa, Tom Bleecker, Rich Hale, Edmund Parker, Hot Dog Harvey, Donnie Williams, Bryan Hawkins, Brian Strain, Ron Sanchez, Pat Salantri, Mohammad Tabatabai, Maurice Gomez, Colin Van Duesen, Steve Cooper, Jim McClure, Paul Dye, Kris Adrian, Dwayne McGee, Shelene Hearring, Bob Mitchell, Larry Kongaika, Willy Aguilar, David Arnold, Clark Cole, Jose Pacheco, Angelo Collado, Wes Idol, Jeff Newton, Tommy Chavies, Dave Brock, Todd McElhinney and many, many more.

We also have heard from people like Ron Chapel, Larry Tatum, Frank Trejo and Jeff Speakman who are checking their travel schedules. If things work out, they should also be in attendance.

It is amazing to see how so many people from so many different organizations want to come together to support the kids who can’t help themselves. Think about this, we will have some of the most senior people from the Tracy Group, the BKF and the EPAK all coming together for the common good.

If you want to help be a part of the BWI, please watch our video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC3ykbpnPzk
and visit http://www.bobwhiteinvitational.com. We are actively accepting sponsorships and every dollar helps.

We know that times are tough and that people are worried about their finances. I ask you to think about how worried the people who run these camps are at this time. They have dedicated their lives to trying to make a difference in the lives of these abandoned kids. They need our help more than ever.

Thank you for your support.

Vishal Shukla
Tournament Director
Bob White Invitational

 

[terryl965]

Sounds like you have everything coming together nicely.

 

[Bob White]

I know we are all very excited about the event. It is going to be a lot of fun seeing so many long time friends. My daughter and I just left the Golden Dragon restaurant in Costa Mesa, and we have the restaurant reserved for the Friday evening before the tournament. I hope our out of town guests can join us for dinner at 7:30.
It is very humbling that so many people have jumped in to help this event be successful. We are ahead of last years contributions and it seems as if the wave of sponsorship will continue. Coming together to help these kids from RFKC is such a great cause that I am happy to see so many people want to be involved. Even though my name is on the title it is not about me. It truly is about the amount of children we can help.
When my wife Barbara and I went to Chile recently it really made us realize how much of a worldwide problem, child abuse is. We are grateful to be a small part of making a difference in a child`s life.
We have a fantastic team at our school being coordinated by Vishal Shukla and Virgil Bartolomucci. Without the team and the great leadership this event could not be anywhere close to what is has become.
Respectfully,
Bob White

 

[vishalshukla]

As we start a New Year, it is only natural that we look back at the past year. We smile at happy memories and resolve to put our disappointments behind us. We look forward with excitement to 2009 and hope that a new year brings good fortune to us, our friends and our families.

Unfortunately it is a sad fact of life that for many, thoughts of a new year bring only dread and fear. For children who have been abused and hurt by people that were supposed to care for them, a new year is just another year with the prospect of pain. Together we can make a difference. We can put all the egos and politics aside to help abused kids start building positive memories. As you probably already know Bob White’s Karate Studio (BWKS) will host the 4th Annual Bob White Invitational on Saturday February 28, 2009. Details can be found on http://www.bobwhiteinvitational.com.

Once again all net proceeds from this event will be donated to benefit the Royal Family Kids Camp of Newport Mesa. RFKC has completed over 25 years of providing a free week of summer camp for children, ages 7 to 11, who have come from group homes and foster homes in Southern California. More information about the RFKC can be found at http://www.rfkc.org

Last year through the generosity of our sponsors, competitors and volunteers, BWKS was proud to support RFKC with a donation of $48,000. This donation allowed an additional 80 kids to attend the annual summer camp. We need your help. If you are interested in being a sponsor for this event, please visit http://www.bobwhiteinvitational.com.

We have a promotional video up that describes the event and the benefits we can provide to the kids. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC3ykbpnPzk

The Kenpo Community has come together for this event in ways we haven’t seen in many years. It seems like we get an email every day from somebody who plans on attending or offering support. It should be a truly great day.

For years BWKS earned our reputation by knocking people down in competition. Now we are earning our reputation by helping people up. I am very proud to be part of the BWI and hope that you will as well.

Regards,

Vishal Shukla