Giving the Gift of Safety
We’ve all been there; in a situation that makes you feel just a little bit uneasy. Sometimes it’s walking to your front door at night — darkness can play some scary tricks on you. Other times it’s in bright daylight, when that stranger walking toward you gives you an unwarranted stare that throws your sense of comfort a little out of whack.
Well, “About Us” is really about you. It’s all about your education, safety and peace of mind; things that every young girl and woman should have and hold dearly. T.A.K.E. Defense Training provides girls and women of all ages with unique reality-based, hands-on self-defense training. Such training provides safety awareness that everyone needs and deserves.
Your T.A.K.E. training, an integral element in the comprehensive safety awareness program, will take place in a two-hour session held at various facilities. When you attend a class, you’ll receive priceless awareness education and practical application of the skills demonstrated and learned in the session. We will also cover internet safety, community safety, home safety, safe travel and much more. It’s our goal to give you the advantage if you’re ever in a situation that makes you question your safety.
So whether you’re in search of that advantage to feel in control of everyday situations, or you want to make sure a bad experience is never repeated, take part in T.A.K.E Defense Training. Power: You have it in you.
A Name That Says It All
The name Alexandra means helper of mankind or compassionate one. And Alexandra Kemp — Ali to everyone who knew her — was all of that and more. A stunning 19-year-old girl inside and out, Ali was murdered while working at a neighborhood pool in Johnson County, Kansas.
Ali is still living up to her name. Through the T.A.K.E. Defense Training program established in her memory, her story has inspired and encouraged women all over the country to take a stand. She has given them the power to stand up for themselves.
Ali truly was a shining star of her generation. Excelling as an honor student at both Blue Valley North High School and Kansas State University, she was involved in many other activities. Soccer, volleyball and basketball satisfied her thirst for athletic competition. Ali exemplified selflessness as a caring volunteer, giving her time and talents generously to her church, community and at Kansas State University, where she had just finished her freshman year as a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority.
Most importantly, though, Ali made the most of a life taken far too soon. She excelled in life as an astonishing person, daughter, sister and friend to everyone she met. In a special testimony to her life, over 1,400 of Ali’s friends and family members came to her funeral. And she has touched, and will continue to touch, thousands of other women who have been impacted by her story and life. While she will always be missed, Ali will forever be a compassionate helper of mankind.
Our Reason for Being
A bright future. A heart to care and help. A smile to melt worry away. All of these were taken away from Roger and Kathy Kemp when their daughter, Ali, was murdered.
So what did they do to fight back? They created a program to forever carry on Ali’s legacy and ensure that what happened to her doesn’t happen to another. The program is called T.A.K.E. Defense, an acronym for The Ali Kemp Educational Foundation.
T.A.K.E. Defense was established in 2005 by the Kemp family in partnership with Johnson County Park and Recreation District and in cooperation with Blue Valley Recreation Commission and Leawood Park and Recreation. Over 70,000 girls and women ages 12 and older have been trained with free hands-on self-defense training. T.A.K.E. Defense carries its message and training across the United States each year to colleges and universities. Examples of universities include Kansas University, University of Missouri, Kansas State University, University of Miami, Vanderbilt University, Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, University of Wisconsin and more. T.A.K.E. Defense Training has been featured on America’s Most Wanted, ABC’s “20/20” and CBS Prime Time along with numerous local and regional news casts. Our goal is clear, as said by Mr. Kemp at each program, “If we can save one life out there, I don’t care what it costs; this whole program will be worth it.”
So join the thousands of women who have experienced T.A.K.E. Defense Training, and experience the empowerment of personal protection.
Meet the Foundation
Something to Strive For
We have different missions for different aspects of our organization. But they’re all for the same reason: Ali. Read on to see what we stand for.
To make a donation and help fund our mission, please visit: Take Defense (qgiv.com)
T.A.K.E.
Foundation Mission
The mission of The Ali Kemp Educational Foundation is:
to ensure that the values and spirit Ali stood for live on and increase safety awareness in young girls and women.
T.A.K.E. Defense
Training Mission
To provide high-quality, appropriate, reality-based self-defense training to girls and women at low or no cost.
T.A.K.E. Defense
Training Vision Statement
T.A.K.E. Defense Training will be known as one of the nation’s premier programs that provides safety education and hands on skills for girls and women to equip them with personal self-defense skills and to make this training available to all who desire regardless of physical or financial limitations.