The North Texas Fencing Alliance, located in McKinney, TX, USA, hosted the Cinco de Mayo Fundraising Tournament this past Saturday, May 5th, 2012, at which its members fundraised $3,400 to be donated to ECN. This was done through the sale of T-shirts, an auction and the collection of direct donations. Both students and other competition participants gathered donations from parents and other competition attendees and community representatives.

Led by head coach Mr. Aly Khamees, an Egyptian fencing champion who was once ranked #4 in the world, the North Texas Fencing Alliance is one of the best fencing training institutions in the United States. It offers numerous classes for the Dallas-Fort Worth area and its students range in age from youth to adults, with approximately 65 full-time members from highly diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Coach Khamees joined the Egyptian National Fencing Team at the young age of 12 years and moved to the US at 21 to begin coaching in 1996.

Coach Khamees is an avid supporter of ECN and we sincerely thank him for his initiative and belief in our cause. He is a rare individual that is an outstanding role model, leading his students by example. He has vowed to make the Tournament an annual event, as well as his fundraising commitment to ECN and other organizations sponsoring children with cancer. Through Coach Khamees, ECN looks forward to hosting more collaborative events with North Texas Fencing Alliance in the future.

 

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