Ikea Names Sabbatical Winner

January 17, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on January 18, 2012 Home furnishings retailer Ikea has named the grand prize winner of its second Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest as Melissa Matthews of Wake Forest, N.C.

Following a month-long, online public vote, Matthews has won the sabbatical worth $100,000 to improve the lives of others through her Special Technology for Special Kids! program, and over the next year, she will share her experience online. Additionally, Ikea is donating $50,000 to Save the Children€™s U.S. Programs.

The contest had more than 1,000 entrants and more than 50,000 votes were cast by the public for the five finalists, including the winning entry. Matthews' Special Technology for Special Kids! program helps children with intellectual disabilities through cutting-edge educational technology.

€œAs we congratulate Melissa on this exciting new chapter of her life and her cause, we applaud all who participated in this contest,€ said Leontyne Green, marketing manager, Ikea North America. €œWe believe that life improvement starts at home and we look forward to helping Melissa with a project that is so close to home for her, yet will help so many others.€

The mother of a child with Down syndrome, Matthews is planning to expand the work being done at the Frankie Lemmon School in Raleigh, N.C., a school for children with intellectual disabilities. This institution uses technology and cutting-edge therapy to help children with special needs. As winner, Matthews plans to use the resources and her teaching background to infuse technology deeper into the classrooms and create a Web site to facilitate the sharing of these technologies and techniques with other teachers across the country.

€œI was given the gift of expectation for my own son when I visited Frankie Lemmon School and saw the effect that new technology and cutting-edge therapies can have on children with special needs,€ Matthews said. €œThis prize and the support from Ikea will help expand the important work that€™s being done at the school and allow us to share what we're doing with other educators so that even more kids can benefit. This opportunity is such a dream come true for me and for so many others who love young children with special needs. It is an honor to be trusted with such an awesome responsibility and privilege."

In addition to the year-long sabbatical, Matthews will also receive a trip to a spa resort in Phoenix, Ariz., to participate in a one-hour life coaching session with life coach Dr. Martha Beck. She will also be featured in advertorials in upcoming issues of O, The Oprah Magazine. The public can also continue to follow Matthews throughout the year as her project is chronicled online.

Ikea is also awarding a $1,000 gift card prize to each of the four runners-up in the contest:

·         Cheryle Clarke (Longmont, Colo.) of Alternatives to Family Violence, a domestic violence service center provider for Adams County, Colo.;

·         Lisa Dunster (Missoula, Mont.) of Compass Retreat, an organization that provides a supportive setting for military service members and their families following return from deployment;

·         Nan Jenkins (Stockbridge, Ga. ) of A Friend€™s House, an organization on the outskirts of Atlanta, Ga., that provides and operates a facility for the community€™s children in need;

·         Scott Millard (Landing, N.J.) of Connor€™s House, a resource center to assist families with chronically ill children, providing short-break respite, family support and end-of-life care.