University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

NEWS RELEASE

Art Aids Art Proposal Garners Award for CSUN Graduate Student 

 

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., April 9, 2007) – Graduate student Jennifer Carey has won an unexpected honor from the Coretta Scott King Book Award Committee.

 A proposal she wrote on behalf of Art Aids Art, an Altadena-based nonprofit that promotes education and sustainable economic development through the arts, has received a grant from the book committee that will deliver hundreds of award-winning books for the impoverished people in the townships of South Africa. Among the books expected to be sent to South Africa are the award-winning novels, Copper Sun by Sharon Draper and the John Steptoe New Talent Winner, Traci L. Jones’ Standing Against the Wind.

The books will be a vital part of the mobile library that will travel throughout the Khayelitsha township of West Cape Town, serving about 1,500 families. The books are to be added to a collection of African and African-American literature that can be used by the community and the local schools to promote and maintain literacy development.

 “Nelson Mandela said it best: ‘Education is the most powerful tool that you can use in which to change the world.’ I firmly believe in his statement and that sums up why I became a teacher and why I believe in the power of books,” said Carey, a graduate student in elementary education with an emphasis in language and literacy development who is also getting her reading specialist credential.

             "One of the questions we put forth to our supporters is to ask themselves, ‘What can one little person do?’ Carey's commitment to assembling an exemplary proposal demonstrates our belief in the capacity of individuals to make a substantive difference in the world," said Tom Harding, executive director of Art Aids Art.

            Growing up in La Canada, Carey credited her father, Paul Carey, with raising her consciousness of and responsibility to the world.         

“He took a job at World Vision, an organization that raised money for the poor-internationally and nationally,” said Carey “and I grew up knowing that we were privileged to have a home in a safe neighborhood, good food on our table, and that many people have to struggle in this world because of oppression and greed. Since I was a young girl, I knew that I wanted to be a part of the solution to the world's problems rather than to support them.”

Carey said she shouted with joy when she got a congratulatory call from Loretta O’Dowd, a representative of the American Library Association, letting her know that the grant she wrote was accepted. She had been sitting on the edge of her seat, hoping that

the committee received her proposal. Due to a snow storm, it had arrived on the very last day and at the very last hour before the deadline.

Carey’s work with Art Aids Art began a year and a half ago and includes a broad spectrum of activities, such as providing people who have long walks home from the market with canvas grocery bags because the straps do not cut into the hands as plastic bags do. Carey is also involved in conceptualizing and implementing partnerships with local organizations.

Art Aids Art was founded in 2003 by human service professionals and educators to serve women and children through programs in impoverished townships surrounding Cape Town, South Africa. The goal is to promote education and economic development by stimulating the area with opportunities.

Among its endeavors is educating the public about South African culture and the HIV/AIDS crisis through presentations at colleges and private gatherings. A group of volunteers are also sent to Cape Town, South Africa, Art Aids Art’s headquarters, to provide supplemental services to programs and work with participating South African organizations.