We kicked off the new year with our usual West Coast visits to San Diego, California, and Phoenix, Arizona. This year, we have added two additional cities to this leg of the tour (Jacksonville, Florida and Columbus, Ohio) making it a bit larger than in the past. Being an East Coast-based organization, it is always nice to escape the cold with a visit out west!
First up was San Diego, CA where we raised over $90,000 for our eleven beneficiary partners. Our fundraising was led by youth fundraiser Julian Cruz from Checkmat Murrieta. Julia was fighting on behalf of his mother who was diagnosed with Leukemia in August 2024. He raised an incredible $6,145 dollars and set the bar high for San Diego! Our Top Fundraising Team was Gracie Allegiance – Clark Gracie Academy. They had 14 fundraisers who helped them raise $9,480!
Top Fundraiser – Julian Cruz
Top Fundraising Team – Gracie Allegiance – Clark Gracie Academy
Next up, we headed out to Phoenix, Arizona for our event on January 25th. The Phoenix BJJ community raised over $44,000 on behalf of Tap Cancer Out. Andrew Marcum from Carlos Farrias BJJ was our Top Overall Fundraiser with $1,290 raised. He was followed by our Top Youth Fundraiser, Jaxon Lindahn from Chute Boxe Academy. Jaxon raised $1,206. Our Top Fundraising Team was Lotus Club Fight & Fitness, who raised $3,120 for this event thanks to their 16 fundraisers.
Top Overall Fundraiser – Andrew Marcum
Top Youth Fundraiser – Jaxon Lindahn
Top Fundraising Team – Lotus Club Fight & Fitness
As we mentioned, we will be hitting up Jacksonville on February 1st, followed by our newest city, Columbus, Ohio on February 8th. We can’t wait to see some familiar and NEW faces on the mats in February!