Toxic Free NC

For information from the N.C. Center for Nonprofits:
Trisha Lester, Vice President, 919-790-1555 x104

For information from Agricultural Resources Center & Pesticide Education Project (now Toxic Free NC) :
Fawn Pattison, Executive Director, 919-833-5333, www.toxicfreenc.org

Toxic Free North Carolina (then Agricultural Resources Center & Pesticide Education Project) Honored for Nonprofit Stewardship

Raleigh — The Agricultural Resources Center & Pesticide Education Project (now Toxic Free NC) in Raleigh received statewide honors today when the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits selected it for one of three 2006 Nonprofit Sector Stewardship Awards. The groups were recognized for their exemplary stewardship of the resources entrusted to them. The Center announced the 2006 Awards at its conference in Research Triangle Park with more than 800 community leaders from across the state participating.

Founded in 1990, the N.C. Center for Nonprofits helps nonprofit organizations lead and manage their organizations effectively, save time and money, and collaborate with others to achieve their mission. The Center is a coalition of some 1,550 nonprofit organizations of all sizes and types in all 100 counties across North Carolina. It created the annual Nonprofit Sector Stewardship Awards in 1995 to recognize nonprofit organizations that demonstrate exemplary stewardship of the accountability and ethics that the public expects of them as tax-exempt organizations. The Center’s statewide board of directors serves as the selection committee. Center Board Member Juan Austin, senior vice president, Carolinas Community Affairs, Wachovia Bank, announced the winners.

Accepting the award on behalf of ARC were Board Chair and Founder Allen Spalt, Board Members Michelle Nowlin and Omar Laínez, and Executive Director Fawn Pattison.

"We are honoring The Agricultural Resources Center & Pesticide Education Project for its creative and thoughtful approach to advocacy, its inclusiveness of all North Carolinians, and its board’s extraordinary demonstration of commitment to the mission when the organization faced severe budget cuts,” said Jane Kendall, president of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits.

ARC was formed in 1986 to minimize human and environmental impacts of toxic pesticides in North Carolina. It is the only organization in the southeastern United States devoted to reforming the use of these chemicals in the environment. It works through a combination of advocacy, education, and collaboration.

One of ARC’s recent efforts helped bring about the July 2006 approval by the N.C. General Assembly of the “School Children’s Health Act,” a law that requires that all public schools implement Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs to protect students and staff from pesticides at school. The bill also requires schools to notify parents of pesticide applications — the first right-to-know law for pesticide use ever enacted in North Carolina.

“ARC’s careful and principled advocacy during the past 20 years has earned it a stellar reputation. It is a trusted source of information for policy makers, community leaders, and the media. Its efficiency and accomplishments inspire other organizations — in North Carolina and around the country. It offers assistance and hope to communities struggling with the effects of toxics in their environment,” said Michelle Nowlin, ARC board member and senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Kendall of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits stressed that ARC demonstrates exemplary stewardship of its nonprofit mission in three major ways:

1. By its creative and thoughtful approach to advocacy and education related to its mission.

2. By its value on inclusiveness of all North Carolinians.

3. By its extraordinary demonstration of commitment to the mission when the organization faced severe budget cuts in 1999.

The other nonprofits receiving the 2006 awards are the Asheville-Buncombe Education Coalition in Asheville and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina in Winston-Salem. Each of the winners receives recognition from nonprofit leaders across the state and from its own elected officials, $500 to invest in professional development for its board of directors and staff, and a work of art by Durham artist Galia Goodman to commemorate this statewide honor.

The N.C. Center for Nonprofits serves as a statewide network for nonprofit board and staff members, an information center on effective nonprofit organizational practices, and an advocate for the nonprofit sector as a whole. Its mission is to serve, promote, and represent the nonprofit sector and strengthen nonprofits’ effectiveness as they improve North Carolina’s quality of life. The Center can be reached at 919-790-1555 or www.ncnonprofits.org.