On Wednesday, I posted about a surprising thing that happened at Senator Patty Murray's annual Golden Tennis Shoe Awards: One of this year's recipients, Seattle Police Officer Denise "Cookie" Bouldin, accepted a pair of golden tennis shoes as recognition for her work using chess to steer Rainier Valley kids away from violence, spoke compellingly about how the game changes lives and minds, and then, up there on stage in full police uniform, choked up because, she told the crowd, she'd just run out funding for the program and was cancelling it for this summer.

Patty Murray donors in the crowd swarmed around Detective Cookie after the event, dropping more than $2,000 on her to keep the program running. But it wasn't enough. She needed a total of $6,000 for the summer. So on Thursday, I told Sloggers how they could donate to Detective Cookie's Chess Club, as it's known, and this morning Detective Cookie called me with good news and thanks:

Eli, this is Detective Cookie calling. I just wanted to let you know that enough funds came in for me to do my summer program. My goodness! I can't believe this! This is such wonderful, wonderful news... The kids are going to be so happy.

It was so sad to let them and their parents know that we weren't going to have it anymore. It was one of the saddest things I've had to do. But I am just so pleased. I am so pleased now. I am getting ready to call all my little chess kids and their parents, call my chess co-instructor, and get everybody back on board. Everything is back on!

Thank you, Eli. You and your readers, this could not have happened without them and without Patty Murray and her supporters. This could not have happened. The Stranger stepped up to the plate. You guys did good. You just are angels. All your people. Everybody who gave me advice—I read every little blog that gave me advice, and I took it to heart, and I thank everybody for being there for me. I thank them so much, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Go Slog!