Character Award for Community Leader, Zein Bertacchi

Chess Without Borders, a grassroots non-profit organization has established a tradition of raising funds for a variety of local and global non-profit organizations since its inception in 2001. The funds have been raised predominantly from food sales at chess events held over the last several years. Over $106,000 in donations is made possible through the generosity of children and adult volunteers.

A pioneering volunteer is Zein Bertacch, a Microbiologist at Good Shepherd Hospital and a gifted gourmet chef.

This unusual collaboration between food and chess began in 2005 when the founder of the chess program in Barrington, Rishi Sethi, was invited with his Barrington High School Chess Team to teach chess in an orphanage in Mexico. Rishi approached Zein Bertacchi to help him raise funds for his high school team to go to Mexico. A Grandmaster chess event was held at Barrington High School and Zein volunteered as the Head Chef for the evening, providing a Gourmet Italian meal to the visitors and families who attended the event. The money raised from the event was used for the chess trip to Mexico for a group of 20 chess enthusiasts to teach at the Don Bosco Orphanage in Leon, Mexico. Other local businesses also contributed towards this mission.
Since then a tradition has been established where 100% of the food sales from chess events are donated to charities. Zein Bertacchi has been instrumental in providing mentoring, enthusiasm and hard work for hundreds of other volunteers who have also donated services in order make donations and projects possible. Other long standing humanitarian projects are funding the education and surgery for a little disfigured girl living in the slums of India and establishing a computer center for 300 students in this same slum. High School students involved with these projects qualify to attend the prestigious UN Youth Assembly in New York because of efforts by Zein and other volunteers.
Zein Bertacchi has generously donated her skills as a cook and enthusiasm as a gifted chef inspiring hundreds of students and parents to help. She has an interesting heritage being born in Palestine raised in Jordan and the US and being married to an Italian. This cross-cultural experience is wonderful for her knowledge of food and cooking.
For details please email me at chesswob@gmail.com.

Kiran Frey MD

(Volunteer with Chess Without Borders)