Martial Arts Family Fitness (MAFF), a family owned and operated school dedicated to improving lives through martial arts, has said that for the eighth consecutive year it is coordinating an Adopt-a-Family program for Thanksgiving.

Students, instructors and staff will work together to feed less fortunate families in the Santa Barbara area as part of a national project called the Thanksgiving Basket Brigade.

“Thanksgiving is a very important time of the year for many of us,” said Melodee Meyer, co-owner of MAFF. “Our family of martial artists, instructors, fitness students and staff have fed over 1,000 families since we started in 2010.

“This year we continue our tradition of providing complete Thanksgiving meals to local families that otherwise might not be able to celebrate and enjoy the holiday,” she said.

“As a martial arts school, we believe that it is our responsibility to help others and make our community a better place to live for everyone. This is one simple way for us to express gratitude for this past year,” she said.

Adopt-a-Family encourages fitness and martial arts students, staff and their families to donate money that is used to buy food, which is put in food baskets. Students and staff assemble the baskets and distribute them to families that have been identified.

Donations start at $30, and a $60 donation fills a basket with a complete dinner for the adopted family. Each basket includes all the makings of a Thanksgiving dinner, including a turkey, stuffing, vegetables, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, butter and pie.

Baskets will be assembled on Saturday, Nov. 18 at Martial Arts Family Fitness, 122 E. Gutierrez St. Assembly will begin at 10 a.m. with delivery following until 1 p.m.

“The annual Basket Brigade provides an opportunity to become unified to accomplish good in our community,” said Karina Muñoz of Martial Arts Family Fitness and coordinator of this year’s Basket Brigade.

“It is a time to come together and share the love for others and pass that example to our children and youth in the community,”  Muñoz said. “It will be an overwhelming feeling of joy everyone will feel on Saturday which is much needed.

“Once again, we are partnering with the Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara, Transition House of Santa Barbara and St. Vincent’s Garden of Santa Barbara, and are grateful for their assistance in identifying families that may not otherwise celebrate Thanksgiving in the same manner that most of us do,” she said.

“As a school and a business, we have a lot to be grateful for and part of who we are is to give thanks and share in this gratitude. We invite everyone in the community to come by and participate in this fulfilling event,” she said.

“If anyone is unable to attend but would like to donate to help feed a family they can call us at 963-6233,” Muñoz said.

“This is by far my favorite event, and the most important event, that our school is involved in,” said Grandmaster Dave Wheaton, co-owner of Martial Arts Family Fitness.

“Our incredible volunteers will assemble and deliver the baskets with cards created by our youth students to the pre-selected families. It is always amazing to see the reaction of the families that receive these baskets,” he said.

“We are so proud of our students for all their hard work in making this a successful community event where we do our part in taking care of each other,” he said.

Celebrating its 15th year in business, Martial Arts Family Fitness teaches martial arts and fitness classes to adults and children, specializing in children’s life skills, youth leadership and family fitness. For more, visit www.kickboxers.com or call 963-6233.

— Alex Rodriguez for Martial Arts Family Fitness.