Support Lehigh Valley Taekwondo
Donation protected
For over 35 years Master Lee has been a paragon to the south side community in Bethlehem. Lehigh Valley Taekwondo was founded in 1984, and from day one it has welcomed and embraced students of all genders, races, countries, and socio-economic-status. More than a school, master Lee has created a family that works out and watches out for each other.
Sometime around 20 years ago (this is a very rough estimate as I was not around for the beginning), Master Lee started supporting the taekwondo club at Lehigh University. This involved, at the time, a commitment of extra teaching hours at the university itself. With it, he started bringing the university students and the south side community together. He was also helping shape the mind and hearts of many of today's professionals through training and discipline. One of his long time students, Motoo Yasui--now a master himself, has continued to spearhead the program through Lehigh Valley taekwondo. The club now trains at the school on designated days and hours, since the spaces suitable for training at the university itself have been turned into classrooms or training facilities for other varsity sports. As an added bonus, for a small fee each semester, university students can also take full advantage of daily taekwondo classes at the school for a more well rounded martial art curriculum.
It was at the club sports fair at Lehigh that I first learned of Lehigh Valley taekwondo. At first I was interested but scared of 'going into town' for training. As many other Lehigh students have done, I finally joined my senior year of college. Once I started training, I wished I could have started sooner! The workout and training expectations were always hard, but there was an instant sense of support and community. I never felt judged (as an overweight woman), and was always encouraged to do as much as I could. I grew in the art, graduated, moved away, tried different schools but never got the same satisfaction (or level of training!).
Over the years Master Lee and the community he has created within the school has welcomed every single person that has walked through the doors of the school, whether they were coming in to ask about classes or looking for a safe place to stay for the night.
I particularly recall the day a Korean young adult, newly arrived in Bethlehem walked into the school because he saw the sign and assumed it was a safe place. Some of us were cautious, but master Lee was calm and welcoming as always. It turns out the young adult had just arrived in the United States in order to surprise his long distance girlfriend, but he had NO idea how to get to her dorm room or even that he probably wouldn't be able to reach her safely so late at night (it was well past 930 and he was far from where he needed to be). Master Lee made sure his story checked out by talking extensively to him and then arranged a safe place for him to stay for the night as well as someone to guide him to where he needed to go in the morning.
There are so many stories like the one above. There was a student who rather than pay tuition, arranged to clean the school on a daily basis because he really wanted to learn Taekwondo but could not afford tuition. I've also heard tales of a longtime student that was allowed to live in the school's basement temporarily while he got back on his feet.
I'm proud to say that I returned to the Lehigh Valley and reconnected with the school after being away for a very short period of time. It felt like nothing had changed, except that I was a bit older and a lot slower. My relationship with training has changed over the years due to work and other life changes, but the strength of the Taekwondo community has kept me going to the school even if just for the occasional visit or to support current students during tests.
When I was in college any time someone would ask Master Lee how much something was he would say "a thousand dollars." I made a pact with myself that one day I would truly contribute that to the school as a whole. This fundraiser is that opportunity not only for me but for all the students that had their lives impacted by master Lee and the Lehigh Valley Taekwondo community.
As many of you know, the school always operated at cost, if not below cost. Master Lee at times has taken personal loans or used his salary to pay for rent and utilities due to not having enough paying students to actually cover the bills. This was never due to a lack of interest from people to join the school. In fact, many of us can remember a time that we spoke to master Lee and he allowed us to pay him a bit later, or a bit less, in order to continue being able to train. Master Lee's goals were always to create well-rounded martial artists who respected the craft as well as themselves and their community. Money was never (and still isn't!) a motivator for him, which is probably what has landed the school in some financial trouble occasionally.
The truth is that the shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic truly de-stabilized the school financially. Master Lee as a responsible business owner closed the school as soon as Governor Wolf mandated it due to increasing infection numbers. That meant that many students who had not yet paid their tuition for that month of March did not get a chance to, even though they had been in class almost daily. Understanding that many families were going through hardship, he let that go. He also did not charge tuition for the months of April or June, due to the school being closed. In fact, some students kept paying automatically, but their check (ours included) did not get cashed until we asked him to please use the money for the school regardless of it being open. It is now July and some of the state restrictions have been lifted. The school is again open on a limited capacity due to the continued risk of infection. Again, unlike many chains, master Lee is not requiring the students that were previously contracted for the year to pay tuition. He is also not requiring extra 'cleaning and sanitizing' fees from students that chose to continue training in person at this difficult time. This means that there is not nearly enough income coming in as he needs to continue affording to keep the school open long term.
As of July 15th, more restrictions are being placed towards indoor gyms and other activities. With Covid-19 infections rising again, it is possible that another shut down of all indoor non-essential facilities will be mandated. The idea behind this fundraiser is to help support the place that has supported so many of us physically and emotionally throughout the years.
Any small donation helps, as master Lee will be able to access funds immediately for basic expenses that the school has incurred in the past few months and in the months to come.
Please share this with everyone you know. Do not feel obligated to donate, especially if your family is going through hardship at this time, Master Lee would not be ok with that. I'd love to hear everyone's stories about how you came to become part of this diverse and crazy extended family, as well as how it has changed you and your life.
- Billie Jean
Lehigh Valley Taekwondo Social Media Page
Sometime around 20 years ago (this is a very rough estimate as I was not around for the beginning), Master Lee started supporting the taekwondo club at Lehigh University. This involved, at the time, a commitment of extra teaching hours at the university itself. With it, he started bringing the university students and the south side community together. He was also helping shape the mind and hearts of many of today's professionals through training and discipline. One of his long time students, Motoo Yasui--now a master himself, has continued to spearhead the program through Lehigh Valley taekwondo. The club now trains at the school on designated days and hours, since the spaces suitable for training at the university itself have been turned into classrooms or training facilities for other varsity sports. As an added bonus, for a small fee each semester, university students can also take full advantage of daily taekwondo classes at the school for a more well rounded martial art curriculum.
It was at the club sports fair at Lehigh that I first learned of Lehigh Valley taekwondo. At first I was interested but scared of 'going into town' for training. As many other Lehigh students have done, I finally joined my senior year of college. Once I started training, I wished I could have started sooner! The workout and training expectations were always hard, but there was an instant sense of support and community. I never felt judged (as an overweight woman), and was always encouraged to do as much as I could. I grew in the art, graduated, moved away, tried different schools but never got the same satisfaction (or level of training!).
Over the years Master Lee and the community he has created within the school has welcomed every single person that has walked through the doors of the school, whether they were coming in to ask about classes or looking for a safe place to stay for the night.
I particularly recall the day a Korean young adult, newly arrived in Bethlehem walked into the school because he saw the sign and assumed it was a safe place. Some of us were cautious, but master Lee was calm and welcoming as always. It turns out the young adult had just arrived in the United States in order to surprise his long distance girlfriend, but he had NO idea how to get to her dorm room or even that he probably wouldn't be able to reach her safely so late at night (it was well past 930 and he was far from where he needed to be). Master Lee made sure his story checked out by talking extensively to him and then arranged a safe place for him to stay for the night as well as someone to guide him to where he needed to go in the morning.
There are so many stories like the one above. There was a student who rather than pay tuition, arranged to clean the school on a daily basis because he really wanted to learn Taekwondo but could not afford tuition. I've also heard tales of a longtime student that was allowed to live in the school's basement temporarily while he got back on his feet.
I'm proud to say that I returned to the Lehigh Valley and reconnected with the school after being away for a very short period of time. It felt like nothing had changed, except that I was a bit older and a lot slower. My relationship with training has changed over the years due to work and other life changes, but the strength of the Taekwondo community has kept me going to the school even if just for the occasional visit or to support current students during tests.
When I was in college any time someone would ask Master Lee how much something was he would say "a thousand dollars." I made a pact with myself that one day I would truly contribute that to the school as a whole. This fundraiser is that opportunity not only for me but for all the students that had their lives impacted by master Lee and the Lehigh Valley Taekwondo community.
As many of you know, the school always operated at cost, if not below cost. Master Lee at times has taken personal loans or used his salary to pay for rent and utilities due to not having enough paying students to actually cover the bills. This was never due to a lack of interest from people to join the school. In fact, many of us can remember a time that we spoke to master Lee and he allowed us to pay him a bit later, or a bit less, in order to continue being able to train. Master Lee's goals were always to create well-rounded martial artists who respected the craft as well as themselves and their community. Money was never (and still isn't!) a motivator for him, which is probably what has landed the school in some financial trouble occasionally.
The truth is that the shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic truly de-stabilized the school financially. Master Lee as a responsible business owner closed the school as soon as Governor Wolf mandated it due to increasing infection numbers. That meant that many students who had not yet paid their tuition for that month of March did not get a chance to, even though they had been in class almost daily. Understanding that many families were going through hardship, he let that go. He also did not charge tuition for the months of April or June, due to the school being closed. In fact, some students kept paying automatically, but their check (ours included) did not get cashed until we asked him to please use the money for the school regardless of it being open. It is now July and some of the state restrictions have been lifted. The school is again open on a limited capacity due to the continued risk of infection. Again, unlike many chains, master Lee is not requiring the students that were previously contracted for the year to pay tuition. He is also not requiring extra 'cleaning and sanitizing' fees from students that chose to continue training in person at this difficult time. This means that there is not nearly enough income coming in as he needs to continue affording to keep the school open long term.
As of July 15th, more restrictions are being placed towards indoor gyms and other activities. With Covid-19 infections rising again, it is possible that another shut down of all indoor non-essential facilities will be mandated. The idea behind this fundraiser is to help support the place that has supported so many of us physically and emotionally throughout the years.
Any small donation helps, as master Lee will be able to access funds immediately for basic expenses that the school has incurred in the past few months and in the months to come.
Please share this with everyone you know. Do not feel obligated to donate, especially if your family is going through hardship at this time, Master Lee would not be ok with that. I'd love to hear everyone's stories about how you came to become part of this diverse and crazy extended family, as well as how it has changed you and your life.
- Billie Jean
Lehigh Valley Taekwondo Social Media Page
Co-organizers (2)
Billie Jean Pinheiro
Organizer
Bethlehem, PA
Lee Arnold
Beneficiary
James Blaney
Co-organizer