Waynesville Rotary Club Member Presents Paul Harris Award to the Executive Director of Cherokee Preservation Foundation

CHEROKEE, NC, March 13, 2009 – Cherokee Preservation Foundation (CPFdn) announced today that Kay Dossey, past president of the Waynesville Rotary Club, presented the Paul Harris Award earlier today to Susan Jenkins, the Foundation’s executive director.

Paul Harris co-founded the Rotary Club in 1905 and was largely responsible for helping Rotary develop from a single club in Chicago to the global service organization it is today.  The Paul Harris Award is awarded by a Rotary Club member to any individual the member wishes to recognize for embodying the Rotary’s motto – Service about Self. 

In making the award to Jenkins, Dossey has made a contribution to support the worldwide humanitarian and educational programs of the Rotary Foundation.  The Foundation, for example, has been working for 20 years to eliminate polio worldwide.

“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award than Susan Jenkins,” said Dossey.  “She quietly does so much for our community through the wonderful work Cherokee Preservation Foundation does to strengthen our region.”

Jenkins has led Cherokee Preservation Foundation (www.cpfdn.org) since it was established in 2000 as part of the Second Amendment to the Tribal-State Compact between the EBCI and the State of North Carolina. Since the Foundation’s inception, it has made 512 grants totaling nearly $43 million to EBCI and regional projects and programs that address cultural preservation, economic development and job creation, and environmental renewal and protection.

Every dollar of CPFdn support has been matched by $1.83 in secured grants or other funding or in-kind resources, making CPFdn’s total contribution to the region more than $121 million.  Regional initiatives in which the Foundation has played a leading role include WNC EdNet, a fiber optic network connecting schools, community colleges and universities in westernmost North Carolina, and Mountain Landscapes, a regional planning process to understand and address mountain land use challenges. 

The Waynesville Rotary Club meets every Friday at the second floor banquet room of the Waynesville Country Club.  Networking begins at 12:30 and the lunch meetings begin at 1:00.  For more information, visit www.waynesvillerotary.org.