The Legacy of Sadie Jones
Sadie Jones was a “spinster” school teacher in Lyon and Chase Counties up until around 1880 and she was hard of hearing. As a teacher, she had a soft spot in her heart for children with poor vision and hearing needs. Over the years, her father left her pastureland in Chase County and mineral rights in Colorado. Upon her death in 1947, her estate was valued at $40,000 and she made several bequests to area churches, friends and family. However, she left the bulk of her estate in a trust for “poor children with poor hearing”. In 2002, the Sadie Jones endowed trust became a fund with the Emporia Community Foundation (ECF). To increase the usage of the fund’s resources, the ECF Board changed the purpose to provide funding for health and safety projects for children in Chase and Lyon Counties. The Sadie Jones Fund still provides for vision and hearing needs of children; however, the Fund also provides funding for programs impacting children in Lyon and Chase counties. Over the years, the endowed Sadie Jones Fund has grown and it now totals over $1.3 million, much more than teacher Sadie Jones ever dreamed possible.
This year, the ECF Sadie Jones Committee, chaired by Steve Younger, is proud to announce the recipients of summer grants awarded to the following:
The Chase County Elementary and Junior/Senior High Schools, in Strong City/Cottonwood Falls, relied on volunteer organizations to provide state required vision testing for their students. The total annual budget for the school’s nursing department is $1,000, so the purchase of the Spot Vision Screener seemed unlikely. A Spot Vision Screener would be a vast improvement for students, especially those who missed test day or needed a second examination. With the Spot Vision Screener, the school nurse can detect seven different visual anomalies that warrant correction. The approval of their grant request for a Spot Vision Screener for $8,000 will enable the schools to be ready to test students this fall.
Those with the North Lyon County (NLC) Youth Association, in Allen, were concerned about the physical safety of children, staff and occupants of the NLC Child Development Center and the NLC Community Center as the facility’s doors were unlocked during normal business hours. As the area’s only licensed early childhood education center many families depend on them for daily childcare and early childhood education services. The NLC Youth Association felt it was critical to provide a safe, secure and healthy environment for the families they serve. Their grant request was for $3,000, the majority of the cost for a keycode locking system and they planned on a fund raiser for the balance. Upon review, the Sadie Jones Grant Committee awarded the group $3,400 for the entire cost of the keycode locking system.
The Sadie Jones Fund is one of the grants available through the Emporia Community Foundation. Sadie Jones would likely be very surprised, but delighted to the extent that her legacy improves the lives of Chase and Lyon County children and families. The fall deadline for the Sadie Jones Grant applications is October 1st. Sadie Jones grant applications and other grant applications can be downloaded from emporiacf.org/available-grants.cfm. For more information about Legacy Funds, contact Becky Nurnberg, ECF Executive Director at (620) 342-9304 or becky.nurnberg@emporiacf.org.
