Walk With US
My name is Russ Makofsky and I am founder of Impact Coaching Network. Today I invite you to join me in celebration of my birthday (Saturday, March 16th) as I take a 10 mile walk across NYC in support of The Gift of Chess. We are raising money to help support our goal of donating 1 million chess sets globally by 2030, using chess as a simple, low-cost, and universally recognized tool that can expand opportunities for all.
Schedule:
10:00 AM EST Starting Point - George Washington Bridge (State Line Between NJ & New York)
12:00 Noon - Central Park Chess and Checkers House
2:00 PM EST - Washington Square Park
4:00 PM EST - Walk The Brooklyn Bridge
You are welcome to find me along with way, or create your own independent walks in your communities here in NYC and across the globe.
Please share all photos on Instagram @thegiftofchess and X @thegiftofchess
5 years ago on my birthday the world first heard about Tanitoluwa Adewumi, a student of mine, who had fled Nigeria and was living in an NYC homeless shelter.
One year after 1st being introduced to the game of chess through our program, he won the NY State Primary Chess Championship in spectacular form.
The story caught the attention of Nicholas Kristoff from the NY Times and the story of Tani quickly spread, inspiring the world on what is possible when given a simple opportunity.
5 years ago, I also first met Tunde Onakoya from Chess in the Slums Africa when he reached out, thanking me...
"Hello Coach Russ, Well done helping build Tanitoluwa's future immensely" - Tunde Onakoya
Since that 1st communication, we have been on a journey to give millions of other children across the globe, the same opportunity Tani had, through providing access to a simple chess set.
Over the past 2 years, we have donated 51,000 chess sets across Africa. Through our network of global ambassadors, we have reached 25 countries with 1,000 + chess sets each, reaching schools, prisons, orphanages, refugee communities and community centers alike with 5 chess set gifts each. Our goal is to donate 1,000,000 chess sets globally by 2030.
Over the next several months, we will land 41,000 chess sets into Panama, for distinction across all of North, Central, South and Latin America.
Today we ask you to join us in support.
If you believe in providing greater access to opportunity, greater access to education, greater access to human connectivity, greater access to human equality, we ask you to support The Gift of Chess.
Today, 5 years after the world 1st met Tani Adewumi and 5 years after 1st connecting with Tunde Onakoya, I will be walking 10 miles from the George Washington Bridge to the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC.
Please walk with me, walk with us, walk for the millions of lives we hope to benefit over the coming years.
The walk will be at 10:00 AM EST (Saturday March 16th) and I encourage you to also walk in your communities in support. I will also bring a chess set, and will be playing a few chess games along the way.
All money raised will go directly towards the purchase and distribution of chess sets. For approximately $10 we can land a chess set to a new community, sparking a lifetime of new opportunities.
Each chess set also comes with a QR code that leads directly to our free The Gift of Chess app on both apple and android.
Tunde Onakoya will be live streaming the event at the link below.
"It is possible to do great things from a small place"
With many thanks, and please share widely.
Russ Makofsky
Read About The Gift of Chess
This Organization Changes Lives by Teaching Kids How to Play Chess
Falmouth students, asylum seekers find sense of community in chess
Kansas inmate's path to freedom leads through Gift of Chess
Happy International Chess Day from The Gift of Chess!
11-year-old migrant transforms into chess prodigy after one year in NYC
American charity helping widen chess footprint across South Africa
1,000 chess sets go out across Malawi
Brooklyn students receive chess sets, learning valuable lessons from game
Refugee Kids Find New Home At NYC Chess Club Founded By Twin Teens