IKEA, The Life Improvement Store, announced the grand prize winner of the second year of its Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest: Melissa Matthews of Wake Forest, NC. After a month-long, online public vote, Ms. Matthews has won a year-long sabbatical (worth $100,000) to improve the lives of others through her Special Technology for Special Kids! program, and over the next year, will share her experience online at www.thelifeimprovementproject.com. Additionally, IKEA is donating $50,000 to Save the Children’s U.S. Programs, $1 for every vote cast in the contest (up to the first 50,000 votes—the program received a total of 50,191 votes).
Understanding that people have a desire to be a positive force within their community, IKEA reignited this unique contest last fall to give one deserving winner the opportunity to pursue their passion of helping others. The contest had over 1,000 entrants and more than 50,000 votes were cast by the public for the five deserving finalists, including the winning entry, Ms. Matthew’s Special Technology for Special Kids! program to help children with intellectual disabilities with cutting-edge educational technology.
“As we congratulate Melissa on this exciting new chapter of her life and her cause, we applaud all who participated in this contest,” says Leontyne Green, Marketing Manager, IKEA North America. “We 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, Melissa Matthews is planning to expand the work being done at the Frankie Lemmon School in Raleigh, NC, a school for children with intellectual disabilities. This institution uses technology and cutting-edge therapy to help these children with special needs. As winner, Melissa plans to use the new resources and her teaching background to infuse more technology deeper into these classrooms and create a website to facilitate the sharing of these technologies and techniques with other teachers across the country.
“I 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,” says Ms. Matthews. “This 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.«