Cherokee Preservation Foundation

Cherokee Preservation Foundation Will Host
Community Celebration on Friday, May 11

CHEROKEE, NC, April 16, 2007—Cherokee Preservation Foundation (CPFdn) will host its annual Community Celebration event on May 11 for grantees, partners and anyone else who is interested in the work CPFdn and its grantees are doing. The event will take place at the Cherokee Youth Center located at 1570 Acquoni Road in Cherokee, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It will include a complimentary Indian dinner prepared by the North American Indian Women’s Association (NAIWA).

The event will feature short presentations from several grantees about their programs. Attendees will hear about:

The RTCAR initiative that is helping Cherokee artists by revitalizing river cane and other traditional Cherokee artisan resources.
The Sequoyah Fund, which is providing loans for new and expanding local businesses and training people how to succeed in business.
The Blue Ridge Heritage National Area and a survey underway that will give important insight about visitors coming to the Qualla Boundary.

Other grantees will be available to discuss the work they are doing, including the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program and Western Carolina University (language revitalization), the New Schools Project (the new project-based curriculum), the North Carolina Cooperative Extension (the Costa Rica Eco-Study Tour, the youth-driven recycling program and YouthNet), Qualla Financial Freedom, the SMART Program, EBCI Economic Development Department initiatives (the Horseshoe greenway, the business incubator and the Knowledge Industry Council), and Western North Carolina Business Assistance Providers.

Also on hand will be EBCI Marketing and Promotion and the Goss Agency (the marketing campaign for the principal cultural attractions), Cherokee Historical Association (the new Unto These Hills), Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual, the Museum of the Cherokee Indian (the traveling Emissaries of Peace exhibit and the Thirteen Moons translation project), the Watershed Association of the Tuckaseegee River, the Little Tennessee Land Trust, Cherokee Bottled Water, WNC EdNet (broadband connecting all the school systems in westernmost North Carolina), the Grove Arcade, the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, and the Historic Grief and Trauma Conference.

About Cherokee Preservation Foundation

Cherokee Preservation Foundation (www.cpfdn.org) was established on November 14, 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 CPFdn’s inception in 2000, it has made 375 grants totaling nearly $31 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 $1.38 in secured grants or other funding or in-kind resources, making CPFdn’s total contribution to the region more than $73 million.