4th Annual Hough Street School Chess Tournament Fundraiser is a Success

On Saturday, February 25th, Hough Street School Chess Club held its 4th annual chess tournament fund-raiser to raise money for Meher's education. The tournament was a huge success, with over ninety competitors, as well as lots of volunteers and supporters all helping to raise over five thousand dollars. I was able to be in town for the tournament and witness all the support and effort and it was very exciting. Special thanks to Maggie Gruber, Hough Street School, Zein Bertacchi (who made and served her delicious falafel and hummus!), CEO Dominic Oetinger, and our countless other volunteers.

Also, thanks to Joe Ridgway, who took photographs of the tournament, which you can view here.

Happy Birthday Meher!

Today is Meher's 7th birthday. She was 3 years old when I met her, and we started arrangements for her first surgery on her 4th birthday. I always specially remember her birthday since it is on Valentine's Day, which fits her as she is especially lovable.

While Meher is doing amazingly well and continues to excel in school, she is unfortunately spending today in her family's village as her father is seriously ill, as described in more detail on Anou's blog:
Project Why: Say a little prayer for her

It is an extremely difficult time for her and her family.

In other more positive news, the Hough Street Chess Club in Barrington, IL is teaming up with Chess Without Borders to organize the 4th Annual Hough Street School Chess Tournament on Feburary 25th to raise money for Meher.

Back to School

Meher and the other students from Project Why have headed back to school! As you can see from the photograph, they are all doing well and are excited to be back.

New Pictures of Meher at School

This is a long overdue update, but Meher is doing extremely well at school, as she always does, and continues to receive straight A's. Even more importantly, she is very happy (as you can see from the pictures) and healthy and is enjoying herself immensely.

Emmy Nomination for "A Future For Meher"

The documentary about our project, A Future For Meher, has been nominated for an Emmy award in the Community/Public Service (PSAs) category. The final revised version with the new score is here:



Many thanks to Joshua Avila and Ron Swanson for all of their work in putting together the final version.

New Score for "A Future For Meher" Documentary

Thanks to Ron Swanson and Joshua Avila, musicians from Illinois who graciously volunteered their services to help support our efforts for Meher, the documentary now has a new score which sounds amazing!

You can view the film with the new score here:




Original Score Written and Performed by
Ron Swanson

Music Recorded and Mixed by
Joshua Avila
DUB VOX Studio Services
www.DUBVOX.com

Also, thank you to Rahul Chadha, our film editor, for putting the new version together.

Project Meher Chess Tournament and Fundraiser is a Huge Success

On Saturday, April 30th, Chess Without Borders and Hough Street Elementary school held a chess tournament and fund-raiser for Meher's fund. The tournament was an enormous success, with both children and adults competing, raffles, and a concession stand.

Special thanks to Maggie Gruber and Canary Chia for organizing the event and of course, thanks to all the volunteers, competitors, and other supporters.