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About Us > Press Releases > Beaverton Resident Jennifer L. Jones Wins Grant for Ziibiwing Center

Contact:
Charla Burton
Funding & Development Specialist
Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways
(989) 775-4734
cburton@sagchip.org

For Immediate Release - September 20, 2010

Beaverton Resident Jennifer L. Jones Wins Grant for Ziibiwing Center

Mount Pleasant, Michigan - Sappi Fine Paper North America announced that Jennifer L. Jones, Cultural Arts Specialist at the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways, who resides in Beaverton, has been awarded a grant from Sappi's 11th Ideas that Matter- an annual, innovative grant program that transforms the creative ideas of designers into a powerful force for social good. The grant will fund an American Indian Boarding Schools 8th Grade Supplementary Curriculum Guide benefiting 8 schools near the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribes' reservation. Approximately one thousand 8th grade students will be impacted.

The well-documented impact of this policy was an unprecedented level of destruction of American Indian languages, cultures, relationships, and families. Focusing on the motivation that catalyzed American Indian boarding schools, the guide will facilitate scholarship on the topics of historical trauma, cultural and language revitalization, and global responsibility. This information is notably absent from most curricula. The guide will also critically examine the policies influence on the design of similar acts of cultural ethnic cleansing around the world. This will be accomplished through extensive research, historical and archival material. "Eighth grade is the perfect age to introduce this curricula as children are forming their values, self-identity, perspectives of others, and personal acceptance from others. I firmly believe that it is not acceptable to negatively influence/impact individuals solely based on their ethnicity & cultural differences. I am very honored to have received this grant and hope to inspire others to donate their time and creativity for social good", said, Jennifer L. Jones.

Through Ideas that Matter, each designer's project supports the work of a nonprofit organization of their choosing. Reviewed by a panel of judges working in graphic design from across the United States, this year's Ideas that Matter projects represent a broad spectrum of causes and were selected based on their creativity, potential impact to the target audience and practicality of the implementation plan. Jones was one of 27 designers from throughout North America who were selected to receive a grant through this competitive design competition. The designers donate their time and creativity to each project, while the funding covers implementation costs.

Since 1999, Sappi's Ideas that Matter program has awarded over $10 million worldwide in grants to designers around the globe, who are performing pro bono work for a nonprofit organization. Out of the $1 million that is annually awarded on a global level, a total of $400,000 in grants will be awarded in North America this year.

"Grants from Sappi's Ideas that Matter program help fund the unique not-for-profit work of designers in North America.  These designers have dedicated their talent, vision and energy to a range of community-based causes across the country, and we are honored to support their work in these challenged economic times," said Jennifer Miller, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Sappi Fine Paper North America.

The grant recipients will complete their projects by March 31, 2011. For more information Sappi's 2010 Ideas that Matter grant recipients in North America, visit www.sappi.com/ideasthatmatterNA.com or call 800-882-4332.

About Sappi's Ideas that Matter
Since its inception, the program has funded more than 170 campaigns in North America, and awarded more than $7 million in grants worldwide. Ideas that Matter attracts applications from designers throughout the world. This year, Sappi awarded 27 grants in North America totaling $400,000. The grants will be used to develop campaigns for non-profit organizations backing social, cultural, health, and human rights efforts, and environmental conservation work.

About the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways
Mission Statement:
The Ziibiwing Center is a distinctive treasure created to provide an enriched, diversified and culturally relevant educational experience. This promotes the society's belief that the culture, diversity and the spirit of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan and other Great Lakes Anishinabek must be perpetuated, communicated and supported.

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