Ron Swanson, a local businessman and musician who has been volunteering with Chess Without Borders has invented an object that can be fitted on string instruments to make them more personal. Ron has a Patent pending and some investors have already made an investment in his product. Ron has called his invention Tuneroos.

Ron is an inspiration to so many chess students as he volunteers with them expressing ideas and demonstrates the connection between art and service. The rich diversity of volunteers from all age groups and ethnicities promotes an environment of learning and ideas as each one interacts with each other. Ron has introduced new methods of fund raising to students and they have responded with enthusiasm and  followed his example. Zander and Aidan Kitchen along with Madison Rossi will be spearheading Marketing for the documentary “A Future for Meher” with the ideas that Ron has shared with them.

We congratulate Ron on his accomplishment.

Hough School Chess Tournament raised $5160 under the Leadership of Dominic Oetinger. Ninety eight students played in the tournament while 37 diverse group of volunteers  excelled in their tasks from feeding crowds, cooking, collecting money, playing music, shooting pictures, selling raffle tickets, entertaining guests to being assistant tournament directors. 800 hours of service were provided to make this event possible. Dominic with the assistance of his mother Denise Oetinger had worked hard to enlist players. He had visited several school chess clubs informing them about the event.Because of the example set by Dominic 15 other students have volunteered to work towards qualifying for this award next year.

Rich Ni, Madison Rossi and Scott McKellin received Presidential Volunteer Service Awards for volunteering 100 hours over this last year.They are seen here with Teacher Maggie Gruber the host at the tournament.

A special thank you to Principal Ms Laurie Wilcox who visited the school with her daughter. She is seen here with other volunteers.

Dominic Oetinger is a student at Hough Street School where he is also involved in the chess club. Dominic with the assistance of his mother will be the President of the Hough Street Chess Tournament coming up this month on the 25th. In collaboration with local businesses and students and parents Dominic will try to raise funds for little Meher who lives in the opposite end of the world in India. Meher was severely burnt in a fire when she was an infant and over the last 3 years the chess community has raised almost $26,000 to help her have several surgical procedures on her face and hands. Students and their families working within the chess community are now helping Meher receive an education. Meher lives in the slums of Delhi, India and without this help she would have had no future. For more information a video about this project can be seen at  http://www.vimeo.com/17509410.

Students like Dominic have enthusiastically  given their time and service for this cause but in turn have built an understanding and developed valuable skills such as enterprise, generosity and initiative as they work together. These social entrepreneurs have learned to collaborate with all age groups, engaged in the various art forms, and have set themselves on a path to serve and commit towards qualifying for the Presidential Service Award over the next year.

Above is a picture of Dominic on the left with another student at the Hough School chess club.

We are proud of our students and enjoy working on projects with them that make a difference in our world. A video updating the documentary, A Future for Meher” will be filmed during the tournament to help others understand the service done by our volunteers to have made this possible.

We are proud of our students who have learned to share many aspects of care for Meher. Mark Nicoletti is a 5th grader at Hough Street School and he has generously donated money that will be used to buy uniform for Meher at her school. This was a thoughtful gesture from an 11 year old who demonstrates that he is aware of the needs of other children not as fortunate as him.

We are glad to honor their acts of kindness and involvement in our award winning project. So far almost $26,000 has been raised by students and families for Meher’s education and medical treatment.

6 year old Vidhya Madana will be introduced to the rich world of service by volunteering as a Marketing Director for the Hough School Chess Tournament to be held on Feb 25th 2012. She will be busy along with students from other schools to think of ways to promote the tournament in order to make it a successful event. So far almost $26,000 has been raised for the medical and educational needs for 8 year old Meher.

Chess Without Borders is delighted to support young students who volunteer often following the example of older students like. Students are free to create their own models of service as long as they try to achieve the goals set out for them. Most of them continue to volunteer for other programs and enjoy their leadership role at an early age. Many of our volunteers have won individual awards and honors for their work and over 50 students have participated in the national Presidential Volunteer Service Award program conducted through the White House.