Whether its possible for the government to cover every american. Millions have signed up for it so far, but we found many may never get on board. Come on in out of the rain. Hello, mr. Hank. How are you doing . For a fortunate few, there is the health wagon. Hold your breath for me. Who are these people who come into the van . They are people that are in desperate need. They have no insurance and they usually wait, we say, until theyre train wrecks. Until a couple of summers ago, the ancient game of chess was still mostly a mystery for the folks of rural Franklin County, mississippi. Whats this called . So imagine everyones surprise when a tall stranger arrived from memphis to bring chess to the country. I was like, what . Why would somebody come down here . Two years later, a chess boom is under way in the unlikeliest of places. People said that country kids couldnt learn chess. And . We showed them different. We proved them wrong. We proved them wrong. Its not a quick fix. Its my decision to make beauty last. Roc® retinol, started visibly reducing my fine lines and wrinkles in one week. And the longer i use it, the better it works. Retinol correxion® from roc. Methods, not miracles. ™ it all starts with a wish. The final days of wish list are here. Hurry in and sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down and a complimentary first months payment. But on the inside, i feel like chronic, widespread pain. Fibromyalgia may be invisible to others, but my pain is real. Fibromyalgia is thought to be caused by overactive nerves. Lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. Im glad my doctor prescribed lyrica. For some, lyrica delivers effective relief for moderate to even severe fibromyalgia pain. And improves function. Lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. Common side effects dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hands, legs and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those whove had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. With less pain, i can do more with my family. Talk to your doctor today. See if lyrica can help. Whitaker good evening. Im bill whitaker. Welcome to 60 minutes presents. Tonight, in this season of giving, we celebrate stories of americans whose generosity extends all year long. We begin with makeawish. If you could be anything go anywhere meet anyone what would you wish for . The Makeawish Foundation has been asking seriously ill children that question for more than 35 years. Makeawish became famous by making dying childrens final wishes come true. A child doesnt have to be terminally ill anymore to get a wish. Last year, the organization granted 15,000 wishes. They cover a broad range. Some children get to meet famous athletes. One had much of San Francisco pretend he was batman for a day. Another chose to jump from an airplane. We wanted to find out what leads to these wondrous moments. Makeawish is a growing organization that spent more than 200 million donated dollars on wishes last year. Its headquartered in phoenix, has more than 60 local chapters across the country, and almost 40 more around the world. To see how wishes become reality, we spent time with some of its most dedicated volunteers in one of its most active chapters, in the Northeast Corner of arkansas. As we first reported back in 2015, we discovered a place where, despite persistent poverty, we found inspiring generosity. Thank you. Youre fine. Appreciate you so much. Whitaker they begin at dawn. One day a year, hundreds of volunteers fan out across northeast arkansas to raise money. At Street Corners. Good morning. Thank you all. Whitaker . In schools. 5,000. cheers and applause whitaker their goal . Thank you so much. Whitaker to get enough money on this one day to grant every wish for the areas sickest children. Volunteers Christie Matthews and Danna Johnson have run this fundraiser every year since 1999. Christie matthews i mean, it literally just exploded. Every year, we would add another town. Whitaker but this is small town america. Matthews theyre very small towns 600, 700 people. A handful of change at a time. Whitaker as this days donation deadline approaches, groups of volunteers race to the local Radio Station to announce their towns total, down to the penny. Give me a number. 8,468. 62 cheers and applause 25,301 cheers and applause 12,054. 55 cheers and applause golly and the big finish is just moments away. Stand by whitaker the total tally from northeast arkansas is the big story on the 7 00 news. What do we have here . 323,000 cheers and applause whitaker thats 323,000 enough to grant more than 30 wishes, donated from places with little to spare. Children who werand thats no l . Matthews we talk about it not being a last wish, but we create lasting wishes and memories that these families can take on forever. Hi, Kaden WhitakerKaden Erickson is fighting a deadly type of leukemia. At his interview as a potential recipient, he thought his wish was a long shot. Kaden erickson my number one wish choice is to go to australia. Matthews awesome. Whitaker folks here make granting the wish a big surprise. Months after his interview, kaden thought he was getting this plaque just for being a makeawish volunteer. Erickson makeawish, october 11, 2014. Kaden erickson, your wish has. applause your wish has been granted kendra street hey, kaden, youre going to australia. cheers and applause whitaker his mother, jeanne. Jeanne erickson he was just shaking the plaque. And his little legs were just doing a little happy dance in the chair. And it was. It was something pretty special. Whitaker you must have been surprised . Kaden erickson i was the most surprised ive ever been in my life. Street im so excited for you, you know it . Whitaker kendra street choreographed kadens surprise. When not playing fairy godmother, shes teaching at marmaduke Elementary School. Everyone at the school chipped in to pay for kadens wish; many turned out to share the revelation. Kaden erickson i get to go to australia i get to go to australia street he was excited. He was grateful. And he knew what it meant for him and his family. Kaden erickson thank you, everybody. Whitaker kaden had endured two excruciating bone marrow transplants. When he, his parents, and four siblings hit the beach in australia, they hoped hed beaten the cancer. The highlight of his trip . Kaden erickson got to hold a koala. Whitaker did he, like, put his arms around you . Kaden erickson he. It was like a hug. It was about as heavy as a baby. And it would put the claws here and the claws here, and so it was like you were getting hugged by a koala. You kind of get attached to the koalas. Whitaker did it make you forget for a while that you were sick . Kaden erickson yes. It made me feel a little bit normal, more normal than ive been for a while. Whitaker feeling normal didnt last long. Shortly after returning home, kaden learned his cancer had returned for the third time. As we settled in for our interview, his mom jeanne adjusted the medication he needs. Its pumped into his body next to his heart. Youre in quite a struggle with this disease. Kaden erickson there are some bad things in my body that are kind of stubborn. Whitaker i think youre kind of stubborn yourself. Kaden erickson thank you. I think. Whitaker kaden is so stubborn that, after deliberating for a week, he decided to undergo a third, agonizing, bone marrow transplant. The previous two were so difficult, his parents didnt want to force him to go through it again. How did you make that decision . Kaden erickson would i rather just die or would i have a chance of living . It was a tough decision to make. Whitaker because the therapy makes you feel bad . Kaden erickson it can make me feel bad. It can hurt me. It could do more harm than help, so im just hoping this time it will get rid of it for good. Whitaker kadens wish granter, kendra street, was devastated when she learned his cancer had come back. Street you have an attachment with your kids, and kadens one that ive really attached to. Eep in touch with him, and so, seeing him have to go through that again, its. Its just painful. Hes just a really amazing kid. Lets give kendra a round of applause. cheers and applause whitaker you see, kendra had survived her own fight with cancer. Back when she was in high school, she had her wish granted. Makeawish foundation is sending you to the Atlanta Braves. applause whitaker getting to meet the Atlanta Braves was thrilling, she says, but. Street not to underestimate what my wish was for me, but if i had to sacrifice having my wish to be able to give it to someone else, i would definitely be willing to give it to someone else. Whitaker being the granter of the wish is the better end of the deal. Street absolutely. You get to give that joy. You get to pass it on to someone else. Whitaker the same chapter passed it on to gavin grubbs. He suffers from debilitating muscular dystrophy, and his wish was to meet race car champion joey logano. The day we met them outside charlotte, joey took gavin for a spin. They met seven years ago, and have become so close, they call or text each other every week. Joey logano can you see anymore . Gavin grubbs i cant see. Whitaker gavin was a groomsman at joeys wedding. It all began back when gavin was eight. Makeawish is sending you to the daytona 500 cheers and applause whitaker at a school assembly, gavin learned hed get his wish to go to daytona and meet his hero. Then, it got better. Logano had flown to arkansas to be part of gavins surprise. cheers and applause gavin may have a serious disease, but, as youll see, he doesnt take himself too seriously. So, gavin, tell me, you are fighting a rare form of muscular dystrophy. Grubbs yes, sir. Whitaker how does it affect you . Grubbs main thing is i dont have the strength of a normal kid my age. Obviously, i mean, im in a wheelchair, but its not all sad because, i mean, youre. When you got a disability, people give you free stuff. laughs people let you do cool things. Im not saying i take advantage of it, but yeah, i take advantage of it. laughter and sometimes i feel a little bad for taking advantage of it, but, you know, its worth it, hanging out with this idiot. laughs logano yeah. Grubbs its okay, no pressure. Whitaker gavin gives back, too. He helps raise money for new wish kids every year. Grubbs it feels good to help other kids. Logano thats, to me, is maturity beyond your years. You take advantage of the stuff that comes your way, as you should. But you also, you know, you give back. Whitaker makeawish began back in 1980. Sevenyearold chris greicius, dying from leukemia, told his parents he wanted to be a police officer. Arizona police made him an officer for a day. The power of his wish launched a movement. Are there wishes you cant grant . Matthews the one wish thats the hardest to say, i cant do is, can you make me well . Thats a tough one. Whitaker what does that do to you . Danna johnson makes you cry. Matthews breaks your heart. Street thank you so much. Thank you. Whitaker years before she became a volunteer, getting well had been kendra streets first wish. At the time, she thought her cancer was fatal. Matthews yes. Johnson she was one of those that, her first wish was to make me well, so i want to live long enough for my mom to see me graduate high school. She was a senior that year. Matthews they remind you that the Little Things that we think as adults are so traumatic are so small. I mean, when you think about what these kids are going through they may not see their next birthday. Whitaker kendra saw her next birthday, and since then, 15 more. Her cancer remains in remission. At marmaduke, where she teaches, the whole school takes part in makeawish. Street they just understand the power of a wish. Its just, once they saw the first wish granted here, our kids wanted to help give that to someone else. And were a tiny, tiny school, thats raised. Last year, we raised 15,000. Thats incredible. It plays a huge part of who our kids grow up to be. Kaden erickson theres a crocodile in there whitaker i dont want to overstate this in any way, but did the trip to australia bolster kadens will to live . Jeanne erickson having australia with him, having those memories, talking about that, it kind of gives him fuel to fight. Kaden erickson sometimes when im sad, i can think of all the happy things i did in australia, and how amazing it was. Whitaker youre not going to let this cancer win. Kaden erickson thank you. Whitaker you saw how courageous kaden was, but unfortunately, this story has a very sad ending. His cancer was relentless. Shortly after our interview, kaden died. Good evening. This new year the minimum wage goes up in 18 states. Social security recipients get their biggest costofliving increase in six years, and the Powerball Jackpot now tops 400 million. Mega millions an estimated 343 million. Im elaine quijano, cbs news. Whoooo. When it comes to travel, i sweat the details. Late checkout. Downalternative pillows. And of course, price. Tripadvisor helps you book a. Hotel without breaking a sweat. Because we now instantly. Search over 200 booking sites. To find you the lowest price. On the hotel you want. Dont sweat your booking. Tripadvisor. The latest reviews. The lowest prices. one is the only number that youll ever need staying ahead isnt about waiting for a chance. Because one is. Its about the one bold choice you make that moves you forward. That you ever need the one and only Cadillac Escalade. Come in for our seasons best offers and drive out with the perfect 2017 Cadillac Escalade for you. Get this low mileage lease from around 899 per month. depend silhouette briefs feature a comfortable, sleek fit. As a dancer, ive learned you cant have any doubts. Because looking good on stage is one thing. But real confidence comes from feeling good out there. Get a free sample at depend. Com. Give a little bit give a little bit. Hello. Give a little bit. Of your love to me oh, haha. Theres so much that we need to share so send a smile and show that you care ill give a little bit of my love to you whitaker while the Trump Administration and Republican Congress have tried to eliminate obamacare, including the recent repeal of the individual mandate, millions of people were already unable to afford the healthcare exchanges. The states were supposed to help them by expanding medicaid, the Government Insurance for the very poor. But 18 states declined. In those states, four Million People are falling into a gap they make too much to qualify as destitute for medicaid, but not enough to buy insurance. As scott pelley first reported in april, 2014, we met some of these people, when he tagged along in a busted r. V. Called the health wagon medical mercy for those left out of obamacare. Pelley the tight folds of the cumberland mountains mark the point of western virginia that splits kentucky and tennessee the very center of appalachia, a land rich in soft coal and hard times. Around wise county, folks are welcomed by storefronts to remember what life was like before unemployment hit 9 . Teresa gardner the roads are narrow and windy curves, so its not easy to drive the bus. Pelley this is Teresa Gardners territory. She cant be more than five footfour, but she muscles the bus through the hollers, deaf to the complaints of a 13yearold winnebago thats left its best miles behind it. Gardner having problems seeing, here. Pelley you really cant see. The wipers are nearly shot, and the defrosters out cold. There you go, you can see a little better now. laughs i understand theres a hole in the floorboard here somewhere . Gardner yes, its right over there, so dont get in that area. laughs pelley the old truck may be a ruin, but like most r. V. S, its pretty good at discovering america. Gardner and her partner, paula meade, are Nurse Practitioners aboard the health wagon, a charity that puts free healthcare on the road. Gardner how many patients do we have on the schedule today . Paula meade he was going to see what he can free up for us. Pelley the health wagon pulls up in parking lots across six counties in southwestern rg gardner you all come on in out of the rain. Pelley its not long before the waiting room is packed. Meade hello, mr. Hank, how are you doing . Pelley . And two exam rooms are full. Meade hold your breath for me. Pelley with advanced degrees in nursing, gardner and meade are allowed to diagnose illnesses, write prescriptions, order tests and xrays. Gardner stick your tongue out, ah. Pelley on average, there are 20 patients a day. Thats recently up by 70 . The health wagon is a small operation that started back in 1980. It runs mostly on federal grants, and corporate and private donations. Gardner Blood Pressure a bit high before . Just when i get aggravated. Pelley who are these people who come into the van . Meade they are people that are in desperate need. They have no insurance, and they usually wait, we say, until they are train wrecks. Their Blood Pressures come in emergency levels. We have blood sugars come in 500s, 600s, because they cant afford their insulin. Pelley but why do they not see a doctor or a nurse before they become, as you call it, train wrecks . Meade because they dont have any money. They dont have money to pay for labs. They dont have money to go to an e. R. And these are very proud people. They. You know, you go to the e. R. , you get a 3,500 bill. And then what do you do . Youre given a prescription, you cant fill it. Thats why theyre train wrecks. They have nowhere else to go. Pelley glenda moore had nowhere to go but the e. R. When the pain in her leg became unbearable. Her job at mcdonalds making biscuits didnt include insurance that she could afford. Glenda moore the only doctor that would see me, you had to have 114 up front just to be seen. Pelley what does 114 mean to your Monthly Budget . Moore oh, my gosh. Thats half of my weekly pay. I make 7. 80 an hour. My paycheck was about. After taxes, about 475 every two weeks. Pelley the pain was from a blood clot. She needed lovenox, a clot buster that costs about 500 for a full treatment. Meade was she on lovenox when she was discharged from the hospital . Pelley paula meade got the call from the e. R. , which didnt want to bear the cost. The health wagon had the drug for free, and there was no charge for some stern medical advice. Meade you are going to die if you dont quit smoking. Moore okay. Meade and it could be within a week. You need to stop now, okay . Moore okay. Pelley she took the advice to stop smoking, and took lovenox, but one day she felt so bad, she went back to the e. R. Moore and they did a c. T. Scan and an xray, and found the blood clot had went to my lung. But they also saw another mass on my lung, and then transported me to a bigger hospital. They found the lesions in my brain, so i was diagnosed with stage4 lung cancer and brain cancer. Pelley what are the doctors telling you . Moore i start my treatment on monday, tra and he seemed very. I mean, he seemed optimistic. Pelley are you hopeful . Moore i am. I have been. I dont know, i just feel very hopeful. Pelley hope, especially when the odds are long, has always been essential to survival in appalachia. The recovery from the Great Recession hasnt arrived. In coal these days, they just take the top off the mountain, and you dont need many men for that. Around here, about 1,000 were laid off in the last two years. 12 of the folks dont have enough to eat. And we met them, waiting for their number at zion family ministries church, where a charity called feeding america was handing out just enough to get through a week, if you stretch. 1,654 lined up. A parking lot of possibilities for gardner, meade, and the health wagon. Theyve known these people, and each other, most of their lives. Youve been together since eighth grade . Meade eighth grade, yes. Pelley why do you do this work . Meade because somebody has to. You know, theres people here, you know. We always. We had dreams. We wanted to move away from here. We all. You know, we did. And then, we come back and we saw the need. And actually, theres a vulnerable population here thats different from the rest of america. I mean, there are people. You can replicate this, but were kind of forgotten. Theres no one here to take care of them but us. Pelley these patients would be taken care of in the 32 states that expanded medicaid under obamacare. The federal government pays the extra cost to the states for three years. But virginia and the others that opted out, fear that the cost in the future could bankrupt them. So the health wagon patients we met have fallen through this unintended gap. Gardner do you have insurance . No, maam. Gardner no, okay. Pelley have any of you tried to sign up for the president s Health Insurance plan . Sissy cantrell no. Brittany phipps no. Walter laney no. Pelley why not . Phipps i cant afford it. Cantrell i cant, either. Pelley Sissy Cantrell was laid off from a head start center. Shes been suffering from migraines and seizures. Cantrell i cry for no reason at all, okay. Meade have you been seeing a counselor . Cantrell no. Meade okay. Pelley she came away from the health wagon with medication. Brittany phipps works more than 50 hours a week, but thats two parttime jobs, so theres no insurance for her diabetes. So youre getting your insulin through the health wagon . Phipps i am now, yeah. Pelley and if that wasnt available, where would you get the insulin . Phipps i dont know. Pelley walter laneys diabetes blinded him in one eye and threatens the other. The health wagon stabilized him and set him up with a specialist. Dr. Isaacs hey, walter, this is dr. Isaacs. Hows it going . Walter laney now its going pretty good. Dr. Isaacs how have youre sugars been . Laney okay. They got my blood sugars back under control. Before this year, i was in the hospital three, four times, and this year. I aint been in none since ive been seeing them. If it hadnt a been for them, i dont think id be here today. Pelley outside the church where they were handing out food, we met dr. Joe smiddy, a lung specialist whos the Health Wagons volunteer medical director. Joe smiddy this is a third world country of diabetes, hypertension, lung cancer, and c. O. P. D. Pelley dr. Smiddy drives a Second Health wagon, a tractor trailer xray lab. I guess they taught you something about radiology and all of that in medical school. Did they teach you how to drive an 18wheeler . Smiddy i did have to go to tractortrailer school. And it took a long time. Pelley was that harder than medical school, in some ways . Smiddy it was very difficult to get anyone to insure a doctor to drive a tractortrailer. Insurance companies didnt believe me. Pelley his xray screen is a window on chronic, untreated disease, including black lung from the mines. Smiddy weve seen coal workers pneumoconiosis, emphysema, c. O. P. D. , enlarged hearts theres 15 of the 26 had significant abnormalities here today. Pelley just today . Smiddy just today. Pelley but when they leave your health wagon, they still dont have Health Insurance. How do they get treated for these things that youre finding . Smiddy we negotiate. We can talk to the hospital system. We dont leave any patient unattended. We raise money for them. Pelley you find a way. Smiddy we will find a way. Pelley they found a way to get glenda moore radiation for her brain cancer. But shed been a smoker for 25 years, and she died three months after our interview. You dont like this idea of receiving charity . Moore no. Oh, i hate it. My dad was in the military. And when he was diagnosed with cancer, he was taken care of. And i dont know, i just always assumed, you know, thats how it would work. Pelley do you think things wouldve been different if youd had an opportunity to go to a doctor more often . Moore oh, definitely. I know it would be different. Pelley the outreach to all the people like glenda moore costs the health wagon about a 1. 5 million a year. A third of that is from those federal grants, and the rest from donations. Doctors volunteer, and pharmaceutical Companies Donate drugs. But when we were with them. Gardner we got no electricity on the health side. Pelley . They sure could have used a new truck battery. Gardner there goes. Yay can we give you all a free flu shot for helping us . Need a free flu shot, beaver . Nope. Meade these were the ones i think we need to focus on. Okay. Pelley Teresa Gardner and paula meade apply for grants, and travel to churches, praying for donations and passing the plate. Are there days you say to yourself, i cant do this anymore . Meade oh, every day. Not every day. I shouldnt say every day. There are a lot of days that you go home and you get frustrated because were writing grants till 10 00 at night. Were begging for money. And youre almost in tears because were, like, okay, what are we going to do . Because ive got a family, too. It gets frustrating, it gets hard. Pelley its enough to wear you out, teresa. Gardner were pretty beat down by the end of the day on most days, really. But we do get more out of it than we ever give. Meade when you look at it practically, you think, what in the world am i thinking . But then i have that one patient that may come in and say, couldnt bring you anything, cant pay anything, but heres a quilt i want to give you. And i mean, when they do that and theyre so heartfelt and they put their arms around you i dont know what id do without you. So youre doing a lot better . Yes. Meade it lets you think, okay, i was put here for a purpose. Gardner and you can do it another day. Youre a blessing to us. Well, thank you all. You all are blessing us. Gardner its them, and thats what touches our heart. Whitaker since this story first aired, meade and gardner have a new health wagon, and its logged a lot of miles. Virginia still has not expanded medicaid. And we have this sad news walter laney died of complications from his diabetes. This cbs sports update is brought to you by ford. Im james brown from the n. F. L. Today. New england clinches home field throughout the a. F. C. Playoffs. Pittsburgh has a firstround buy. Buffalo plays in jacksonville. Tennessee meets kansas city in the other wild card. Philadelphia and minnesota are the top two seeds in the nfc. New orleans wins the south and host carolina in the other wild card. For more sports news, go to y cbssports. Com. Lets go mom slow down for the ones who keep pushing. Always unstoppable. I wanti did my ancestrydna and where i came from. And i couldnt wait to get my pie chart. The most shocking result was that im 26 native american. I had no idea. Just to know this is what im made of, this is where my ancestors came from. And i absolutely want to know more about my native american heritage. Its opened up a whole new world for me. Discover the story only your dna can tell. Order your kit now at ancestrydna. Com. You or joints. Something for your heart. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brainhealth supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. A whole new concept in skin say heldefense. Etox new absolutely ageless®. Pretox day mask from aveeno®. Its powerful antioxidant formula. Fights pollution and keeps skin looking younger, longer. Aveeno®. Whitaker chess has been around for 1,500 years, but until a couple of summers ago, the ancient game was still mostly a mystery to the folks of rural Franklin County, mississippi. Few had ever played chess before; many confused it with checkers. A chess board was as outof place in the county as a skyscraper. But, as Sharyn Alfonsi first reported in march, that all changed when a tall stranger arrived from memphis to bring chess to the country, with a belief that the game could transform a community. He was initially met with bewilderment. Who was this sixfootsix outsider, and why would anyone come to Franklin County to teach chess . Two years later, a chess boom is underway in the unlikeliest of places. Alfonsi tucked deep in the Southwest Corner of mississippi lies remote Franklin County, where the trains dont stop anymore. Half the county is covered by a National Forest the other half, it seems, by churches. Hallelujah alfonsi this is the buckle of the bible belt. 7,000 people live here, and no ones in a hurry. There are only two stoplights in the entire county, and one Elementary School. Jeff bulington whats this called . Alfonsi so imagine everyones surprise when dr. Jeff bulington showed up at school to teach the kids of Franklin County a new subject chess. Bulington so, everybody say, checkmate. Checkmate. Alfonsi before dr. B. Came to town, had you played chess before . Braden ferrell i didnt have a clue how to move the pieces or nothing. Donovan moore only time i saw it was on tv. Alfonsi donovan moore, braden ferrell, parker wilkinson, and Benson Schexnaydre didnt know what to make of dr. B. , as he is known, when he first appeared in 2015. What did you think of dr. B. When you first met him . Benson schexnaydre this 12 foot man. Alfonsi the 12foot man. Parker wilkinson whenever he came into the room saying he was planning on teaching us chess, i was like, what . Why would somebody come down here . Alfonsi in the middle of nowhere. Youre a logical guy, and it doesnt seem to make a lot of sense. Bulington if there are people there, its not nowhere. This is somewhere. Its just a somewhere that doesnt get a lot of attention. Alfonsi Jeff Bulington was lured to Franklin County by a wealthy benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous. The benefactor had seen how bulington had molded chess champions in memphis, in one of the most distressed zip codes in america, and wondered if chess could take hold in the country. Bulington where can you put the king . Alfonsi he convinced bulington to give a few demonstration lessons in Franklin County. Bulington does that stop him from coming here . Afterwards, i was asked, so, hey, what do you think . Do you think this, these kids have it . Could you have a Chess Program here . And i was, yeah, of course. Theyre as smart as any other kids ive ever met. Alfonsi motivated by the challenge, bulington signed a tenyear contract with the benefactor and left the city for the country. Bulington what is he doing . Hes xraying the king. Alfonsi bulington has taught chess for the better part of 25 years. Bulington whats so wonderful about the bishop, and why might we think of it as an archer . Alfonsi he may not be a grand master, but hes a master of using chess to tell a narrative, especially with beginners. Bulington this is a story about a little girl, and the stranger and the little girls daddy. Elizabeth and the stranger is just my adaptation of little Red Riding Hood to the chess board. Elizabeth needs to get down here to e1 where school is, where she can be safe. It involves just simply teaching how a pawn moves and a king moves. Oh, no is she going to make it . Ricky i told you this was a bad idea bulington i remember my partner in this project saying to me, wed have maybe 12 kids playing chess. He didnt know what to expect. Alfonsi and how many kids do you have playing chess right now . Bulington well, a couple hundred. Alfonsi students flock to bulington, in part, because at heart hes one of them. He grew up in rural indiana and identifies with kids who have to feed the chickens, count tarantulas as pets, and have different tastes in food. What do you like to eat . Wilkinson fried rattlesnake. Alfonsi fried rattlesnake . Wilkinson if you got to my house, if we ever find a rattlesnake in a course of like a week or so, youre getting some fried rattlesnake. Alfonsi bulingtons opened up a new world to his kids. Schexnaydre check. Bulington this is a famous game by morphy against count isowarde and duke of brunswick. Its played in paris. This is paris. Bobby poole we teach history. We teach geography. We teach science. We teach math. We teach it all using the chess board. Alfonsi bobby poole is a parttime preacher and a full Time Assistant chess coach for bulington. Poole says there were doubts that bulington could succeed in mississippi. Poole all the statistics, everything you look at, mississippi is the poorest. Its the dumbest. Its the fattest. We know that the rest of the nation has that conception of us. Parker people said that country kids couldnt learn chess. Alfonsi and . Wilkinson we showed em different. Schexnaydre we proved them wrong. We proved them wrong. Alfonsi proof came last year in starkville, where bulingtons team of mostly Elementary School kids from Franklin County faced off against much older High School Players at the Mississippi State championships. Rebekah griffin was in the fifth grade. What was their reaction when they saw you, a little fifth grader, sitting across the table from them . Started bragging to their friends about how he got easy pickings. Alfonsi is that a little scary, playing somebody who looked that much older than you . Griffin i didnt really think about it until somebody told me, you played a guy with a beard . Alfonsi you guys roll in, and they say, who are these kids, right . Ferrell they were basically, like, trying to say we were a joke because we were kids. But after the game, we usually beat them, and they were, like, very shocked. Alfonsi dont you guys feel bad you beat all those older kids . Ferrell never. Moore no. Wilkinson no, not at all ferrell i never feel bad. Wilkinson i dont want that to make me seem like a cruel person, but im, i really am just okay with crushing peoples spirits. Alfonsi in the end, Franklin County dominated the state championships. Mitch ham what happened is, a bunch of hillbillies beat the snot out of a bunch of really highly educated, sophisticated people. So thats what happened. Alfonsi mitch ham was among the many parents in starkville. He thinks the victories served as a milestone for Franklin Countys kids. Ham that was very sobering for them, to suddenly realize, wow, we are good. So them having the realization of their own potential was a beautiful moment. Alfonsi how did the teachers, the other teachers, react . Bulington over the course of my career in teaching chess, people say things like, i did not know that he could do Something Like that, or even something as simple and as crass as, i did not know he was smart, or she was smart, or Something Like that. Alfonsi what does that tell you . Bulington it tells me some people got it wrong, that some kids have been underestimated or written off for reasons that are false. Alfonsi chess has helped bulingtons players see theres more to themselves than theyve seen before. Wilkinson chess is, like, something that, like, im, like, really good at, for once. Alfonsi has it changed you at all . Moore it has. My grades have gone up. Alfonsi your grades have gone up . Moore all my grades used to be, like, low, mediumlow bs. Now, theyre as and high bs. Griffin i feel like chess could take us anywhere. But its not about where it takes us, its about how far it takes us. Alfonsi last year, only seven of the 93 graduates from Franklin County high school went on to a fouryear college, but every chess player we spoke to plans to attend college some day. Jennifer rutland its really shocked me, how far hes came. Alfonsi Jennifer Rutland is bradens mom. She runs the first and main cafe, one of the few places in the county that serves a hot meal. She believes her son wont be flipping burgers for a living. Is it fun to see your kids dream a little bigger than the county line . Rutland yes. Yes. So big that its almost like, braden, come on, get real. You know, it just gets so big. Ham you always want to see your kids go further. And i think chess can be a vehicle to take them there, you know . This gives them a window at a young age, that, hey, theres a whole world out there. I dont need to set my goals at making 8 an hour, i need to set my goals at whatever i want them to be. Alfonsi chess has filled a social void and given main street a pulse. Last fall, a new chess center opened in the middle of meadville, the county seat. Do you feel like chess has made the community more hopeful . Bulington certainly parts of it, yeah, right. I mean, this flower hasnt bloomed yet. Its just starting to, right . Theres a lot yet to come. Alfonsi the chess center has become like a beacon in the county. Each day after school, kids who have the desire and aptitude receive more instruction from bulington. Bulington so, what does black do . Alfonsi theyve become so immersed in the game, with its infinite number of possible moves, that when these students finish playing chess, they go home, and play more chess. Can the best chess player in the world come from Franklin County . Schexnaydre maybe. Wilkinson yeah, yeah. Ferrell absolutely. Wilkinson absolutely. Schexnaydre its super possible. Alfonsi before they could take on the world, they would have to face the nation. Bulington well take care of them. Alfonsi last december, 33 of Franklin Countys chess wonders and their parents gathered in the School Parking lot. Yall are coming back right . Alfonsi . To begin a ten hour journey to nashville, for their biggest test yet the national championships. Bulington queen g7, excellent. Alfonsi as day turned into night, bulington and his students were lost in what they call the chess dimension. Austen johnson where are we . Bulington well, i dont know where we are. Were in the middle of problem nine. Thats all i know. Alfonsi preparing, in their own language. Bulingtonig attacking the queen, and threatening. The queen takes h3, check. Alfonsi . For what lay ahead a weekend of intense chess. More than 1,500 players from 644 schools gathered in a giant ballroom at opryland. Please shake your opponents hand. Alfonsi . For seven rounds of chess, over three days. Every grade, k through 12, was vying for a national title. The best teams come from the best schools in new york city. And, two hours into the tournament, it appeared as if little Franklin County was overmatched. After round one, the kids from mississippi had lost 30 of their first 32 games. Bulington you know, its a real struggle and theyre going to learn to struggle at this level. And theyre learning that they have to struggle at a different level than they ever have before. Alfonsi whats the feeling when you walk in here as a player, as a coach, as a parent . Bulington its a deep agonistic experience, right . Alfonsi deep agonistic experience . Bulington yeah, its real, true competition, based on skill alone, right . And you look around and you can see it in the parents faces as much as the kids, that theres something significant at stake here. Alfonsi nervous parents from other programs tried to sneak a closer peek into the ballroom, desperate for any news. After their shaky start, Franklin Countys players bore down. Taking more time, probing for openings, watching for threats. A bulington mantra played in their heads let your opponent show you how theyd like to lose. Bulington today is the last day, its the hardest day. Alfonsi by sunday, with the final two rounds looming, Franklin Countys fifth and sixth graders were hovering near the top ten. Bulington Everybody Needs to fight for those points today. We need them very much. Alfonsi parker wilkinson, braden ferrell, and Benson Schexnaydre all delivered for Franklin County. That left donovan moore, who was mired aahalhour struggle against a higherrated opponent from kentucky. On the verge of victory, donovan was asked for a draw. He said no. His opponent snapped, the tension of the event bursting to the surface. Donovan moore eventually won, boosting Franklin Countys fifth graders to number eight in the country. Making their debut to the stage, Franklin County upper elementary. Alfonsi the sixth graders placed tenth, two grades in the nations top ten, only a year and a half after Jeff Bulington first showed up to introduce chess to a small county in mississippi. Wilkinson one thing that i dont think i say enough is thank you. Schexnaydre i was thinking the same thing. Wilkinson for teaching us all this. Alfonsi what are they capable of . Bulington somewhere in the top three at least. Alfonsi you think you can stick it out for eight more years in Franklin County . Bulington i wont even think of it as sticking it out. Alfonsi what do you think of it as . Bulington i think of it as, doing what i want to do, being in a place i like to be. Depend silhouette active fit briefs, feature a thin design for complete comfort. They say move it or lose it and at my age, im moving more than ever. Because getting older is inevitable. But feeling older . Thats something i control. Get a free sample at depend. Com. Thats something i control. Pain from a headache whcan make this. Ld,. Feel like this. Allinone cold symptom relief from tylenol®, the 1 doctor recommended pain relief brand. Tylenol®. For mildtomoderate eczema . It can be used almost everywhere on almost everybody. The arm of an arm wrestler . The back of a quarterback . The face of a fairy . Prescription eucrisa is a nose to toes eczema ointment. It blocks overactive pde4 enzymes within your skin. And its steroidfree. Do not use if you are allergic to eucrisa or its ingredients. Allergic reactions may occur at or near the application site. The most common side effect is application site pain. Ask your doctor about eucrisa. You wof your daily routine, so why treat your mouth any differently . Complete the job with listerine® help prevent plaque, early gum disease, bad breath and kill up to 99. 9 of germs. Listerine® bring out the bold™ lets go push it to the limit if you wanna win it harbor no room for the weak, nor the timid bit too long, you got accustomed to the gimmicks its like they dont care that the real is at the finish no blemish, no honor let the flutes go, the snake charmer, god the kingpin of every Street Corner you cant say i didnt ever warn ya, yeah. Push it. tires screech truck horn blares