GREENFIELD — Taking a break from class, Greenfield Tae Kwon Do Center instructors and members cut 2,800 boards in just two hours last weekend in preparation for their annual “Break-athon.”

Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, instructors and students will fill the dojo to break boards at the 22nd annual “Break-athon.” While the martial arts pupils showcase their skills to cheering families, loved ones and instructors, their effort raises money for Warm the Children, the Greenfield Recorder’s charity that helps provide warm clothing for families in need across Franklin County and the North Quabbin area.

Warm the Children was started in 1993 and the annual winter donation drive runs through the end of December. Last year, the drive provided new coats and clothes to about 840 children, raising more than $50,000 to cover expenses. The Greenfield Recorder has a partnership with Target to provide gift cards to beneficiaries and these gift cards are provided to Community Action Pioneer Valley for distribution to those in need. They can be used in the store or online to buy clothing for each qualifying child, 12 years old or younger.

The Greenfield Tae Kwon Do Center has been one of the longest-running donors to Warm the Children. The center started hosting the “Break-athon” fundraiser in 2002, and last year raised $6,308. The center eclipsed the $100,000 mark in donations in 2021.

“Break-athon” donors can give either flat donations or per-board pledges, similar to a walk-athon. After breaking the boards into kindling, the Greenfield Tae Kwon Do Center sells the scraps of wood for heating, also donating the proceeds to Warm the Children.

“We absorb all the expenses, so every single nickel goes to Warm the Children,” explained the studio’s founder, owner and instructor, David Johnson.

He said the “Break-athon” began with the dojo’s core value of family. Within taekwondo, Johnson and four other black belt instructors teach the art of “Moo Duk Kwan,” which translates to “institute, school or family of martial virtue,” according to Johnson, who has studied the art for 50 years now.

“We function kind of like a family here,” he explained. With circular saws and compound miter saws whirring in the background, Johnson added, “It’s knowing that we can rely on each other.”

Instructors set aside their research, theater, medical and music careers before walking into class with students of all ages. “We’re from every walk of life, but it doesn’t matter because we’re all on the same page,” Johnson said.

Twenty-two years ago, Johnson searched for a way to support not only the family within his dojo’s walls, but outside of them. He remembered asking himself, “What might we do to give back to the community?”

Inspired by Warm the Children’s mission, he created the “Break-athon” to both spread the word about the 40-member taekwondo school — or the town’s “best kept secret,” as he calls it — and support the Franklin County community. But Johnson clarified that the “Break-athon” is not about giving back, “It’s giving to; giving to something that you’re automatically a part of.”

Black belt instructor and Greenfield native Jillian Iverson Tozloski first joined the school in a “baby bucket.” Thirty-one years later, the studio is her “second home” because of its family nature.

“We are very much about taking care of each other,” Iverson Tozloski said. “What better way to take care of our community than making sure our kiddos are warm?”

Having been breaking boards for the “Break-athon” since she was 12 years old, her favorite way to break is a “focus break” or “technique break,” making precise hits like late martial artist Bruce Lee’s iconic 3-inch punches that crack the wood with only a few fingertips.

“You have to learn how to focus your body part so it’s like the working end of a tool,” Johnson explained. Flipping his hand to show the calluses on his knuckles, he added, “If I were to break with a punch, I would use these knuckles like I would use the tip of a screwdriver.”

Johnson and Iverson Tozloski start their taekwondo students out with stomps before they graduate to kicks, elbows, punches and, eventually, maybe Bruce Lee methods.

The 22nd annual “Break-athon” will kick off at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, and will last about three hours, or however long it takes to break the 2,800 boards. Lamore Lumber Post & Beam Buildings in Deerfield, Hamshaw Lumber and The J Team in South Deerfield, and Cowls Building Supply in Amherst banded together to donate a stack of wood towering 6 feet tall.

In addition to flat and per-board pledges for the taekwondo students, donors can give directly to Warm the Children at Saturday’s event.

Outside of the “Break-athon,” anyone who would like to send tax-deductible donations can do so online at recorder.com by clicking the Warm the Children “Donate Here” feature at the top left of the homepage. Donations also can be sent to Greenfield Recorder, Warm the Children Fund, P.O. Box 1367, 14 Hope St., Greenfield, MA 01301.