Cherokee Preservation Foundation Wins Gold Award from Council on Foundations for Outstanding Communications

CHEROKEE, NC, May 6, 2009 — Cherokee Preservation Foundation (CPFdn) has been named a Gold Award winner for excellence in communications by the by the Council on Foundations (COF) in connection with its 2009 Wilmer Shields Rich Awards program. The awards program recognizes effective communications efforts to increase public awareness of foundations and corporate giving programs. CPFdn received the award for its quarterly newsletter and annual ga-du-gi report to the Cherokee community about progress being made as a result of its grants.

“We strive to communicate effectively with our community and the many grantees, partners and other people with whom we maintain relationships that are important to us,” said Susan Jenkins, executive director of Cherokee Preservation Foundation. “We have just published our 2009 ga-du-gi report (ga-du-gi means “helping hands” in Cherokee), and it highlights the work our grantees are doing in areas such as saving energy and using renewable energy resources, and protecting river cane and white oak so we can preserve natural resources and Cherokee cultural knowledge.  The ga-du-gi report and our quarterly newsletter are important tools that help local and national audiences stay informed about the work Cherokee Preservation Foundation is doing to improve the quality of life of members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and strengthen the western North Carolina region.”

The 2009 ga-du-gi report is available on Cherokee Preservation Foundation’s web site at http://www.cherokeepreservationfdn.org/report.html, and the Foundation’s newsletters may be read at http://www.cherokeepreservationfdn.org/newsletters.html.

The award was presented at COF’s 60th Annual Conference, which took place May 4-6, in Atlanta. This year, 199 entries were submitted to the awards program.

About Cherokee Preservation Foundation

Cherokee Preservation Foundation (www.cpfdn.org) was established in 2000 as part of the Second Amendment to the Tribal-State Compact between the EBCI and the State of North Carolina. It is an independent nonprofit foundation funded by the EBCI from gaming revenues generated by the Tribe. CPFdn is not part of or associated with any for-profit gaming entity. 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 sustainability. 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.