Weaving Partnerships to Improve the Quality of Life of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians & Strengthen WNC
Spring 2012
10th Anniversary Plans
Greater Cherokee Tourism Council
Early Birds Get the Worms
Cherokee High School Business Plan Competition
Costa Rica Eco-Study Tour
Eco-Friendly, Cost-Saving Ideas
Links
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
About Us
Cherokee Preservation Foundation 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 707 grants totaling nearly $56 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 $1.59 in other funding or in-kind resources, making CPFdn's total contribution to the region more than $145 million.

 
Skill Builder Schedule
 

Foundation grantees who take Skill Builders classes get priority consideration for grant funding, so if you haven't taken the following courses, we encourage you to sign up by contacting Sasha Watty at 828/497-5550 or [email protected].

 

March 21, Grants 1: Preparing Your Grant Proposal - This session will take the mystery out of what you need to do to submit a clear, compelling grant proposal.

 

April 18, Grants 2: Defining and Tracking Project Results - What difference does your project or program make? You must be able to define what you expect to achieve from your project. This training

teaches how to define and track measurable outcomes.

 

May 23, Designing Your Work Day - This course will teach basic time and stress management skills.

 

Courses are held at Chestnut Tree Inn and run from 9 a.m. to noon, followed by a one-hour networking

lunch. Click here for more information about the Skill Builders program. 
Join Our Mailing List
Greetings!
Welcome to this quarterly update from Cherokee Preservation Foundation.  Read about our 10th anniversary plans, the work of the Greater Cherokee Tourism Council, the Jones-Bowman Fellows' vermicomposting project for the community and more!

Cherokee Preservation Foundation

Is Celebrating Its 10th Anniversary
 

CPFdn office - smIt is hard to believe that Cherokee Preservation Foundation (CPFdn) is ten years old!   Executive Director Susan Jenkins was hired in January 2002 and began assembling the Foundation staff. In September 2002, the Foundation awarded its first grants.

 

Now, after ten years of grantmaking, convening and community building, the Foundation has made 707 grants totalling nearly $56 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 $1.59 in other funding or in-kind resources, making the Foundation's total contribution to the region more than $145 million.

 

With the community's support and involvement, the Foundation has been able to have a major impact on language revitalization, leadership development, the continuation of Cherokee artistic traditions, cultural tourism, downtown revitalization, the creation and expansion of small businesses, regional education, the financial skills of Cherokee youth, and energy efficiency and conservation.

 

Throughout 2012, the Foundation will be celebrating its 10th anniversary during a series of events, including its annual Community Celebration on May 11 and a photo contest during the summer in which we will be seeking pictures from EBCI community members and others in the region that demonstrate Cherokee culture, the diversification of the regional economy and stewardship of our environment - the Foundation's three areas of focus. We will provide details as the events come closer, and we thank you for your friendship and support over the past decade.

 

The Greater Cherokee Tourism Council Gets

the 2012 Tourism Season off to a Good Start

 

With tourism being so important to the economy in western North Carolina, it has been exciting to see how the efforts of the Greater Cherokee Tourism Council (GCTC) formed in 2010 are beginning to show. By reaching out to more organizations involved in tourism, improving the data on which visitor-related decisions are based, and developing new product offerings aimed at bringing first-time and repeat visitors, Cherokee's principal attractions and visitor

support organizations are primed for the 2012 tourism season. They are already reaching out to potential visitors with new ads in Southern Living and other publications.

 

In 2010, Cherokee Preservation Foundation funded a week-long Marketing College attended by Cherokee Historical Association, the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Qualla Arts & Crafts, EBCI Travel and Promotion, EBCI Transit, EBCI Parks and Recreation, EBCI Fish and Game, the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce and the Sequoyah National Golf Club. The attending organizations decided that it would be to their mutual benefit to continue working together, and the GCTC was established.

 

In 2011, the group was awarded a grant to support market research and analysis, tracking systems that gather more detailed data about who is visiting and where they live, advertising production and media buys; the grant supplemented the funding the EBCI provided to EBCI Travel and Tourism.

 

Ryan Ott, general manager of the Sequoyah National Golf Club, saidad - golf the research has been invaluable. "The research has helped us better understand who is coming to Cherokee and extend our reach to our target markets. While not all of the attractions represented on the GCTC appeal to the same visitors, the research has opened up opportunities for cooperation."

 

Every member of the GCTC, not to mention the entire community and region, benefits when travelers decide to make repeat visits to the Qualla Boundary or extend their stays. That's why Ott is happy that several new offerings will beckon visitors to Cherokee in 2012, including a new play by acclaimed writer Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota) that will be staged several nights per week at the Mountainside Theatre after its grand opening on July 16.

 

The Museum of the Cherokee Indian will be offering several new programs in 2012 showcasing Ostenaco's and Henry Timberlake's journeys to each other's countries as emissaries of peace 250 years ago in 1762. Besides the grand reopening of the Emissaries of Peace exhibit at the Museum on June 10, the Museum will be staging events in Williamsburg and other locations that will bring attention to the EBCI and its homeland.

 

The GCTC finished the 2012 Visitors Guide in January, far earlier than in previous years thanks to the higher level of collaboration taking place. And for the first time, group members are all using the same agencies for creative work and media buys, and they have created complementary marketing plans. With the high quality ads, the GCTC partners' collaboration and new products, the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center and glimmers of improvement in the U.S. economy, everyone hopes 2012 will be a good year for tourism on the Qualla Boundary.

 

FULL STORY

Early Birds Can Learn How to

Recycle with the Help of Worms 

 

early birdCommunity service is a cornerstone of the Jones-Bowman Leadership Award Program, which provides opportunities to undergraduate college students committed to developing their leadership skills. The 2011/2012 Jones-Bowman Fellows will soon be teaching EBCI community members how to reduce the considerable financial and environmental cost of putting food scraps in a landfill by instead recycling food waste with the help of worms.

 

Vermicomposting bins reduce household garbage disposal costs, produce less odor than putting food waste into a garbage container, save the water and electricity that kitchen garbage disposals consume, produce a high-quality soil amendment that's free, require little space or maintenance, and spawn free worms for fishing.

 

Soon the Jones-Bowman Fellows will tell community members in an advertisement in the Cherokee One Feather how they can reserve a spot to receive a vermicomposting bin - the first 20 people to respond will be invited to a hands-on demonstration session later in the Spring to learn how to construct their vermicomposting bin from materials provided by the Jones-Bowman Fellows and how to maintain the simple system. The bins have been funded by Cherokee Preservation Foundation.

The Foundation Funds the Region's First

High School Business Plan Competition 

business plan competition 

Innovative small businesses in newer industry sectors will increasingly be the lifeblood of the economy in western North Carolina. With support from Cherokee Preservation Foundation, the Cherokee Business Development Center and Sequoyah Fund have taken a number of actions to encourage the development of small businesses in the region. The latest step is a new annual business plan competition for Cherokee High Schools students that the Cherokee Business Development Center is hosting in April. The goal is to invigorate the entrepreneurial spirit of young members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who have a good idea for doing something different than anyone else has tried and is willing to put the work into proving it.

 

Many steps are involved in translating great ideas into great businesses, and a key one is the creation of a business plan, a road map that helps reduce the uncertainties surrounding the decisions needed to launch a business. A business plan helps an entrepreneur determine if the proposed business has a market and can make a profit. Participating Cherokee High School students will be required to submit a plan that includes an executive summary, a description of their business idea, a marketing plan, a management profile and a financial plan. 

 

Business plans must be turned in to the Cherokee Business Development Center no later than April 18.  Cash prizes ($1,000 for first place, $500 for second place and $250 for third place) will be awarded May 3.  For more information on the Cherokee High School business plan contest, contact Hope Huskey at 828/497-1670 or at [email protected].  

 

Cherokee Central Schools teachers have been working on integrating entrepreneurial concepts into the school curricula. A number of teachers have received North Carolina REAL (Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning) training. Cherokee Preservation Foundation will encourage other high schools in the seven-county region to organize similar competitions in the future.
 

 

Costa Rica Eco-Study Tour Set for June 10-22 

 

The eighth annual Costa Rica eco-study tour that gives students in the region a great cultural exchange experience will take place in June. Interest in the program is at an all-time high, with 42 students applying for the 14 spots. During the trip, students will be learning about organic farming and recycling at Costa Rica's EARTH University and about about the culture of several indigenous peoples in Costa Rica. The fourteen students are already practicing presentations they will give about Cherokee and Appalachian culture.

 

CPFdn Efforts May Give Food for Thought
  

solar installation
Photovoltaic solar panels are now on CPFdn's roof.

In 2011, Cherokee Preservation Foundation (CPFdn) started to look at ways to conduct its business that are both more ecologically friendly and less costly. Encouraged by early results, we thought it would be worth sharing some of these actions in the event your organization would be interested in undertaking similar efforts.

 

Reducing the cost of drinking water consumed by staff and visitors on an everyday basis and at events that take place at the Foundation's office was the first project the Green Energy Committee (Monaka Wachacha and Dan Martin) tackled after each staff member developed at least one energy and cost saving idea. The committee determined the cost of bottled water CPFdn used in the previous year was nearly $2,000, and they sought out ways to implement cost-saving ideas.

 

Initially they switched to water in 5 gallon dispensers, but too many disposable papercups were being consumed to make the dispensers a viable option. The Foundation then purchased four filtration pitchers (total cost = $132), each requiring four filters per year (total annual cost of filters = $108) and purchased low-cost reusable mugs and glasses for use. As a result of these choices, the Foundation will save an estimated $1,758 on drinking water in 2012 and $1,890 in future years since the pitchers were a one-time expense.

 

In 2011, CPFdn contracted with First Light Solar WNC to install 14 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on one of its two buildings, both to demonstrate to the Cherokee community the importance of using alternative energy and to trim the Foundation's energy costs. The cost of the turnkey unit was nearly $20,000, and CPFdn owns the unit. The system is generating energy that is being added to the electric grid.   Soon, the Green Committee will have specifics about the cost savings from the PV solar panels, which were installed in the past month.

 

Future projects include determining if it is feasible to produce Board books sent to the Foundation's directors before Board meetings by removing the expense of printing, binding, and delivery.   For further information on the Foundation's green savings activities, please contact Monaka Wachacha at 828/497-5550.