Community Celebration on May 7 Will Feature Grantee Updates and Indian Dinners

CHEROKEE, NC, April 21, 2010—Cherokee Preservation Foundation (CPFdn) will host its eighth annual Community Celebration event on Friday, May 7, for grantees, partners and anyone else who is interested in the work CPFdn’s grantees are doing. The event will take place at the Cherokee Youth Center located at 1570 Acquoni Road in Cherokee, from noon to 1:30 p.m., with the doors opening at 11:30 a.m.  It will include a complimentary Indian dinner prepared by the North American Indian Women’s Association (NAIWA) and served at noon.
The event will feature short presentations from several grantees.  Speakers include:

• Tony Walkingstick and Deb Mintz, who will talk about the annual Costa Rica Study Tour for EBCI and other teenagers in the region planned by the EBCI Cooperative Extension Center and supported by the Foundation.  Deb Mintz was a chaperone in 2009.  Tony Walkingstick participated in the program as a student in 2007 and has continued to be involved with the program as an intern.  He has produced a short video about the Costa Rica experience.
• Nell Leatherwood, executive director of the Sequoyah Fund, will introduce Bruce Martin, the owner of the Longhouse Funeral Home, who will talk about how he and his family have expanded their business. 
• Gerard Ball and Kevin Jackson, undergraduate students who are participating in the Jones-Bowman Leadership Award Program, will talk about the activities they are participating in to develop their leadership skills and the doors that have opened to them because of their involvement in the program. 

Grantees involved in other projects and programs receiving financial support from Cherokee Preservation Foundation will be available at booths to discuss the work they are doing.  Come join us!!!

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 associated with any for-profit gaming entity. Since CPFdn’s inception, it has made 621 grants totaling more than $48 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 $1.69 in secured grants or other funding or in-kind resources, making CPFdn’s total contribution to the region nearly $130 million.