PROTILES Gives Back

For several years Protiles has been selling sets of white tiles with pink letters and a pink breast cancer ribbon on the blanks. Five dollars from every set sold is donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Protiles donated 240 sets of tiles to the 2008 Players Championship in Dayton, OH.

Tiles for Teachers: Protiles has collected and donated over 850 sets of tiles (as of August 2010) to teachers in the US and Canada for use in their classrooms. Here's a typical request: "I am interested in using letter tiles in my class next year to help teach spelling. Unfortunately, we have no funding available. Do you ever make donations to a class or give a great discount to teachers? I teach first grade at Bethlehem Elementary in Taylorsville, NC."

Some of the states where teachers have received tiles: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Kansas, Tennessee, Florida, Nebraska, Texas, Indiana, Colorado, Arizona and North Carolina.

Protiles also would like to honor Rose Kreiswirth's memory. Rose was an expert Scrabble® player for over 30 years and cherished the game for its educational values. An accomplished player, Rose was as well known for her sense of fairness and her congeniality as she was for her competitiveness. The Rose Award will be awarded each year at the National Scrabble Championship to a female player who, in the opinion of the judges, best exemplifies the fierce competitiveness and compassion that we remember Rose for.

Lilla Sinanan, a competitive and compassionate player, of whom Rose would have been proud, was the 2010 winner of the Rose Award. Lilla was in contention for the Division 4 prize money, and it was a fierce and competitive race. Most of the contenders were young men, one of whom was playing only his second tournament. He had kind of a rough session one day and was quite upset. Lilla gave him a pep talk. He ended up placing 2nd, and Lilla finished just out of the money. Because of her strong competitiveness, her graciousness in all circumstances, her cheerfulness, and most of all her compassion for her rivals, Lilla is the perfect recipient of this award.

NSC Director Mary Rhoades reports: The 2009 Rose Award was won by Deborah Gaudier, whose 1111 rating was far below that of the division she chose to play in -- Division 1! She won only two games (one was a bye), and had a wonderful attitude the whole tournament. It was a lovely ceremony!

Finally, my local Starbucks store asks customers to donate the new instant coffee, VIA, to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The coffee comes in a small packet and works with both hot and cold water, perfect for a cup of coffee away from the comforts of home. Would you buy a cup of joe for a soldier?

Beginning June 1, 2009 Protiles will donate 10% of the sales price of every set our customers order to these good causes. We'll send sets to school teachers, we'll honor Rose, we'll support breast cancer research, and we'll send some good-tasting instant coffee to the troops.

When you order Protiles tell us where you'd like the 10% to go. If you choose not to choose, we'll choose for you. Either way you'll know that we're doing something good together.