Correction: Cheryl Tyson is the sister of John H. Tyson. This article incorrectly reported how they are related.
A $2 million pledge by the Tyson Family Foundation puts the Jones Center a step closer to reaching a goal of raising $10 million by Nov. 15.
John H. Tyson and his sister, Cheryl Tyson, made the announcement Tuesday morning at the Jones Center, said Kelly Kemp-McLintock, chief advancement officer for the Jones Center.
Correction
A previous version of this story misstated the relation between John H. Tyson and Cheryl Tyson. The error has been corrected.
The Tyson Family Foundation’s gift is in addition to the money the foundation gives annually to help with the cost of operating the Jones Center, Kemp-McLintock said.
Tyson Foods and the Tyson family have supported the Jones Center since it began, John Tyson said in a news release provided by the Jones Center.
“The Tyson and Jones families were very close for decades,” Tyson said. “They worked side by side in downtown Springdale for many years to make this community a great place to work and raise families.”
He described the Jones Center as a gift that continues to strengthen the community. Tyson, chairman of the board of directors for Tyson, is the grandson of Tyson Foods founder John W. Tyson.
“The relationship between the families is a part of the interest and involvement,” said Archie Schaffer III, a consultant to Tyson Foods and a Jones Trust board member. “It’s a great center that’s important not just to Springdale but to all of Northwest Arkansas.”
The Jones Trust began the Jones Center Endowment Campaign in December 2012 after the Walton Family Foundation offered a $10 million gift in December 2012 to the Jones Trust, which oversees Jones Center operations, if the organization could raise another $20 million, Kemp-McLintock said.
The Care Foundation announced a $10 million lead gift, and the Jones Trust board and Jones Center Advancement Department have since worked toward raising the remaining $10 million, Kemp-McLintock said.
The campaign has $3.5 million left to raise after the gift from the Tyson foundation and another gift of $1 million announced recently by the George family of Springdale, Kemp-McLintock said.
A successful campaign will allow the organization to double the existing endowment of $30 million to $60 million to help sustain the Jones Center, she said. The nine-person Jones Trust board limits the Jones Center to a 3.5 percent draw from the endowment.
“It’s a great safety net for our organization,” Kemp-McLintock said.
The Jones Trust aims to raise $1.75 million annually, including from membership fees, daily user fees, room rentals and lease agreements, to go back into Jones Center operations, Kemp-McLintock said.
The Jones Center opened in 1995 as a project of Bernice Jones, who with her late husband, Harvey, had built the Jones Truck Lines company. The facility has two indoor swimming pools, an indoor ice rink, gymnasium, fitness center, conference center, and auditorium and chapel.
The facility and campus are owned and managed by the Jones Trust.