Walmart Foundation donates $250,000 for Jones Center scholarships

More people, families and organizations will be able to use the facilities at the Jones Center after the announcement that a donation will be used for scholarships.

An official from the Walmart Foundation announced Thursday a $250,000 grant to the center to help needy families and non-profits. Karen Parker, senior manager for the foundation, said the grant fits its mission to improve the quality of life for Northwest Arkansas residents.

“We want to make sure everyone has access to the center,” Parker said. “Income can be a challenge or a barrier for families.”

The grant will also allow non-profits to hold events at the center at little or no cost, said Ed Clifford, CEO of the center.

The center is already a good value, said John Buchan, a Springdale firefighter who was using the Jones fitness center with his wife Regina. He and his family, which includes three kids, moved to Springdale from Pine Bluff about six months ago, joining the center about a month ago, he said.

“We looked around at other fitness centers and decided this was the best value,” John Buchan said. “We get to use the fitness equipment and we also have everything else the center offers for our kids.”

The center, which added fees in 2008, began selling memberships in September 2012. A family membership for all facilities is $300 per year. The center now has about 3,000 members with almost 1,000 on scholarships, Clifford said.That scholarship total includes participants in some activity programs, Clifford said, such as those ran by Camp War Eagle.

The center continues to add programs, said Kelly Kemp-McLintock, chief advancement officer at the center.

New programs include fitness classes, such as yoga and Zumba, and a personal fitness trainer, Kemp-McLintock said. The center has started a recreational hockey league, indoor soccer leagues and swimming lessons taught by the Red Cross, she said.

The center now has a preschool class, said Christi Silano, program director of the class, with 13 children enrolled from a limit of 30.

The center recently acquired children’s gymnastic equipment through two donations, Kemp-McLintock said. The equipment allowed the center to offer gymnastic lessons, she said.

The center is offering preschool classes, beginner 5- to 7-years-old, beginner 8 and up and intermediate, according to the center website.

“We tried to get our daughter in a gymnastics class but it filled up,” said John Buchan.

All parts of the grant, the third one of $250,000 from the Foundation, will help the center with its operational costs, Kemp-McLintock said. The budgeted expenses of the center is about $3.5 million for 2014, she said.

Over half of the cost is utilities, Kemp-McLintock said. The Jones Center is a 220,000-square-foot family facility that has conference rooms, a swimming pool, an ice skating rink, a gymnasium, a computer center and classrooms.

“People don’t realize what the Jones Center has,” said John Buchan. “There is nothing like this anywhere I’ve lived.”

“We’ve already got our money’s worth after one month,” Regina Buchan said.

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