Times Square Refugee Chess Center
New York City has received over 40,000 migrant refugees from Latin America in the last year. Many of these are children.
Before even stepping foot in NYC, these families went through unbelievably terrible months or years, crossing jungles on foot, risking being attacked by bandits who rob, rape and kill travelers, and sleeping on the streets. Some had to make their way across multiple countries to reach the border. Many lost at least one family member on the way. And when asked, the parents have said that they did all of this for the children, to give them a future that would be unattainable in the collapsing nations they fled, and that incredibly, they would do it all again because their kids are everything to them. But schools were caught off-guard and the city was caught unprepared, and many institutions have had to scramble to respond. And although shelters were found, and kids were enrolled in school, after-school meals and safe activities were not available.
The Gift of Chess and some Spanish speaking Stuyvesant High School students who founded unidospodemosmas.com recognized this need and stepped in. Since January 9, 2023, we have opened an after-school program in a large church room which is walking distance from many of the shelters. Spanish-speaking staff, an artist from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and Spanish-speaking high school volunteers have been dedicating their afternoons teaching chess and math to the kids. The community has grown in just weeks with kids and their parents becoming "regulars"; Even better, some of the kids have taken to chess so well that a few weekends ago, two kids won first place in a weekend chess tournament!
In just weeks, this chess program and these New Yorkers are tangibly offering the kids and their families safety away from the streets and a bridge to America. Many people have opinions about these migrants, good and bad and in between, but the reality is that these children are here now and if New Yorkers don’t step up to help them at this crucial time, these kids are vulnerable to gangs, crime, drugs, and abuse.
Sadly, the program received a one-time donation and is in desperate need of support. Rent in midtown is expensive (!) even after being given a deal, our chess coach needs to be paid, and a couple of pizzas a day add up. Please help us keep going for another 3 months!
We ask that you take a minute to watch a video of our program and the amazing work the volunteers are doing. This unique program will potentially provide a blueprint to other US cities and states on how to respond to our migrant crisis in a way that helps the children in the short run and all of America in the long run.
