Janesville Area Foundation board members and grant recipients, Front, from left: Mary White, Sharon Tlusty, Arlene Pooler, Mike Daschner, and Jessica Keech. Back, from left: Gary Cummins, Kelly Eustice, Mike Finley, Mike Niemczyk, Andrea Kronbach, Jessica Rollins, Cory Jewison, Tyler Fellows, Julie Olson, and Liz Janike.
Janesville Area Foundation gifts
$12,000 awarded Monday evening
$12,000 awarded Monday evening
Sat, 12/31/2022 - 3:59pm
The Janesville Area Foundation Awarded $12,371 in grants on Monday, November 14, 2022. The Waseca Area Foundation also provided an extra $9,677 in grants to local non-profits.
Board member Mike Finley explained to the crowd how JAF awards grants. “Our deadline to apply for grants was September 30. After that, the board got together to decide how to split the funds we have to those that applied. It’s all about providing grants to people.”
Sometimes, the foundation doesn’t have enough funds to award the grant money it wants to applicants. Instead, it turns to its affiliate in Waseca to help fund. “We never want to turn anyone away,” Finley said. “So, the Waseca Area Foundation helps provide grants through the EF Johnson Foundation.”
Eleven organizations received grants from JAF. Andrea Kronbach accepted a $600 grant for JWP Preschool and Wrap Around Care. The purpose of the grant is to provide sensory and social emotional learning tools.
“We have three classrooms between the wrap-around program and preschool,” she elaborated. “Getting past the Covid pandemic, we are seeing a need for those tools this year. We are very thankful for this grant.”
The JWP Family and Consumer Science Department received $200 at the awards program. FACS teacher Mary White said that the students in her class collaborated with Band Director Adam Hille to create custom bell covers for the tubas to show off school spirit. White showed a prototype of the covers to the crowd.
Jessica Keech of the JWP Special Education department was awarded $1,741 for the school’s Cricut Club. “The Cricut Club is a life skills program where students work on service projects,” she explained. “An example would be creating Christmas cards for nursing homes.” Keech collaborated with fellow special education teacher Jennifer Bangs for the Cricut Club.
Jessica Rollins accepted a $250 grant which will go toward providing free rides for JWP and Trinity Lutheran students to Farmamerica. “It also helps pay for agriculture career programs,” she added. “We provide an entire day of hands-on experiences, and we pair students’ interests with activities.”
Trinity Lutheran School received $1,000 for electronic signage in front of the school. JWP baseball was awarded $2,000 for a turtle baseball shell net to make practices and games more efficient. “It allows us not to have to chase foul balls all the time,” Head Coach Cory Jewison stated. “The shell will last us quite a few years.”
Liz Janike accepted a $1,000 grant for Junior Achievement which will help the organization provide materials and coursework for JWP students. Janesville Public Library received $1,000 from JAF and an additional $1,000 from the Private Literacy Fund to purchase new adult books. “It’s a pilot program,” Janesville librarian Sharon Tlusty said. “We are getting some new releases so patrons don’t have to wait.”
The JWP Hall of Fame received $500 to help pay for its annual banquet and awards ceremonies.
Janesville Matters received a $3,000 grant from JAF to pay for new planters downtown. “We want to keep sprucing up the community so people in town can look and say, ‘I’m happy to be in this community,’” Arlene Pooley stated. “Oh, and we’re always looking for volunteers!”
Lastly, Janesville Boy Scout Troop 89 received $1,080 to purchase tents. Scout Master Mike Daschner along with Julie Olson announced that there will be a girls’ scouts troop in Janesville soon.
“Tents are always needed,” Daschner explained. “Boy Scouts need to camp 15 times to join the Order of the Arrow. As you can imagine, tens can deteriorate very quickly because of that.”
In addition to the 11 recipients receiving grants from JAF, four more recipients of grants from the EF Johnson Foundation were briefly recognized. JWP science teacher Erik Kehoe received $1,000 for a 3D printer; Andrea Kronbach accepted $3,000 for the JWP Community Education Department’s youth development scholarships and preschool program support; Waseca Area Caregivers were awarded $3,677 for their Caring Hands Program; and Lutheran Social Service received $2,000 for foster family programming.
