The website was a little in flux during the time of this years Break-a-thon so I wanted to official give some mention to it even if it was a month ago.. Martial Arts America tries to do this event every year. It was held on February 7 at Merle Hay Mall, Des Moines, Iowa this year and we take pledges for each board broken to try to raise money for Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parents Association. We always have a great time doing it! As an early post had mentioned, we raised $5000, what you didn't know was that it is $1500 more from 2006.

Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parents Association (IFAPA) is a non-profit association that provides support and advocacy to Iowa's foster and adoptive families. As of last year there were approximately 2,700 foster families in Iowa, caring for over 4,500 foster children. IFAPA provides many programs to support these families and promote stability for the children in their care. Some of the programs the Association facilitates include: Liaison Peer Support, Adoption Information Specialist Program, Respite, Foster Allegation Information and Referral line, Kidsake Foster/Adopt Iowa, and training. IFAPA feels very strongly that it is important to adequately train its foster families to be better prepared for the difficult behaviors they may encounter.

Highlights for this years event can be seen here!, or for 2006 here!.