In collaboration with the Kansas City Chess Club, Frank Williams Outreach Center will host a chess tournament for its visitors and Wyandot Center clients Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m.
The outreach center, 1201 North 7th Street, Kansas City, Kan., serves persons who are homeless or in need.
The outreach center is a program of Wyandot Center, the designated community mental health center serving Wyandotte County.
Ken Fee, director of the Kansas City Chess Club, will officiate the tournament of five half-hour games. Ken has been running chess tournaments for 17 years and also teaches chess to children’s programs.
He will track tournament progress on a computer database.
Registration is limited to Frank Williams Outreach Center visitors and Wyandot Center clients. Thirty participants are currently registered. There will be trophies and prizes for the top three winners. Each participant will receive a chess medal.
“We’re excited to host this tournament for the first time,” says Patrick Sumner, site manager, “and have greatly appreciated the involvement of the Kansas City Chess Club. This should be quite fun and interesting, boost self-esteem and help build a sense of belonging and community involvement at our Frank Williams Outreach Center.”
The outreach center is open seven days a week, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It provides a place for persons who are in homeless or in need to stop in for coffee, do laundry, take a shower, read the newspaper, use the computer or telephone, or play chess.
The center also has a clothing closet where visitors can access gently used or new items donated by community friends.
The center is named for Frank Williams, a case manager with Wyandot Center from 1997 to 2001, who died unexpectedly at the age of 32 in late 2001.
