The Star, 10 October 2009

A group of celebrities took up the challenge to go against the World’s No. 1 Scrabble player to raise funds for charity.

Children from the Shambala Kidz charity centre watched in awe as the celebrities pitted their wits against World Scrabble champion, Ganesh Asirvatham, at the Celebrity Scrabble Challenge hosted by Mattel at Starbucks, Tropicana City Mall in Petaling Jaya recently.

The celebrities were Jojo Struys, Deborah Priya Henry, Hannah Lo, Xandria Ooi, Ash Nair, Stephanie Chai and Rina Omar.

Who’s got game: Ganesh (left) playing against Deborah Henry.

The challenge was a preamble to the World Scrabble Champion-ship to be held in Malaysia next month.

The championship is a coveted bi-annual international Scrabble tournament where over 100 of the best Scrabble players around the world vie for the title and a total of US$30,500 in prize money.

This year, it will be held at the Zon Regency, Johor Baru, from Nov 26 to 29.

At the Celebrity Scrabble Challenge, the celebrities managed to raise RM10,000 for Shambala Kidz, the charity in aid of children from underprivileged homes and street children from Chow Kit.

Shambala Kidz is a learning centre, dedicated to heart-based living – individuals relying on the intelligence of their hearts in concert with their minds to conduct their lives at home, school, play and eventually at work.

"Scrabble is my favourite game, and although it was a little daunting at first to go against the world’s best, it was great fun, especially knowing that you’re doing your part to make a child’s life better", said Jojo Struys, well-known host and producer of the programme "Jojo’s Ticket to Wellbeing" and "Health Buzz".

Apart from announcing the World Scrabble Championship at the event, Mattel also announced its partnership with Starbucks which will kick off with a series of fun Scrabble Challenges called the Scrabble Challenge @ Starbucks.

Scrabble Challenge @ Starbucks will take place every two weeks starting this month at various selected Starbucks outlets within the Klang Valley.

The challenge is open to all Starbucks patrons and the public. Each challenge is limited to 40 players.

Beginners and those who are just curious to see how the game is played are welcome to join a short workshop on Scrabble before the challenge begins.

The Scrabble Challenge @ Starbucks will take place on Oct 18 at Berjaya Times Square; Nov 1 at Centrepoint, Bandar Utama and Nov 15 at Bangsar Telawi 3.