Zein Bertacchi, a passionate and gourmet cook who is often seen as the chief volunteer at the food counter during chess tournaments won a ” Best Cook” Award at the Beit Sitti Kitchen in Amman, Jordan. Zein is a Microbiologist who works at Good Shepherd Hospital in Infection Control. Through her passion and talent for cooking she has helped Chess Without Borders raise over $70,000 by selling, organizing and preparing food at Chess Tournaments along with other volunteers. Zein was one of the founders of the philanthropic movement for the chess program since its inception in 2003 when Rishi Sethi invited her to help raise funds for various charities around the world while students played in chess tournaments.Through the creative use of  her talent and spirit of service she has inspired many young students and parent volunteers to join in this venture enabling the organization to win awards.

Zein is affectionately called the “Falafel Lady” by students and their parents because of the delicious Falafels she serves at the tournaments.

Above is a picture of Zein on the left seen receiving her award from Maria Haddad at the Beit Sitti restaurant in Amman, Jordan.

Zein and many of the volunteers are featured in the Documentary ” A Future for Meher” that was entered in the Emmy Awards last year.

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.

The chess community welcomes new social entrepreneurs into its community. Dunya is a 5th Grader at Hough. She plays chess, flute & piano as well as train to become a ballerina. She loves being involved in as many activities as possible and thats what interested her in being a volunteer. She will be able to find a creative outlet for her passions as well as help others. Dunya will embark on a mission to volunteer for 50 hours over the next year in order to qualify for the Presidential Service Award offered by The White House through Chess Without Borders.

Students at Chess Without Borders have made new moves as social entrepreneurs. This new role has inspired students to lead as documentarians, fund raising organizers, artists, musicians and social entrepreneurs.

In the  generous spirit of service chess players Prasanth Madana, Shelby and Jared Munstermann, Robert Said and Toby Schwartz dazzled the crowd with their music at the Salem United Methodist Church on Feb 5th. They performed an eclectic combination of pieces under the leadership of Ron Swanson. Through their music and food served by volunteers the church raised $1600. The money will be used for volunteer work in the 9th ward of New Orleans still rebuilding from Katrina.

Picture above shows (R to L ) Shelby, jared, Ron Swanson, Prasanth, Robert Said and Toby Schwartz.

It is inspiring to watch our students share themselves in the service of others. All these students will be working towards the Presidential Volunteer Service Award from the White House for next year and hope to volunteer 50 hours in order to accomplish this milestone.