Applications available for Jasper County projects and activities.

The Orell Farley Foundation is accepting applications for the annual grant process. Since its inception in 2018, the Foundation has awarded a combined total of $135,301.24 toward projects that benefit the Jasper County community. The Foundation is accepting 2024 applications for grants May 1 through July 31, 2024 to benefit charitable, education, religious or scientific purposes within Jasper County that currently have 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service.

The Orell Farley Foundation was created to supplement qualified organizations in Jasper County, Ill. that sponsor projects and activities that enhance public health, safety, recreation and education for the use and enjoyment of the community. An organization must be either a tax-supported governmental unit or entity, or must be a tax-exempt organization under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) and must be located in Jasper County.

Ms. Orell Farley was a retired schoolteacher. She began her career in 1928 in a one-room schoolhouse with first through eighth grades. According to an article written by former student Ray Elliott, she was instantly someone the students respected.

She made the rules and we played by them, Elliott wrote. We read when we were supposed to read, studied when we were supposed to study and kept quiet when we were supposed to keep quiet.

Farley acted as teacher, janitor, coach and PE teacher to hundreds of rural students during her time behind the desk. She taught a total of 45 years in Crawford and Jasper Counties, mostly with all the grades in the same room, and appreciated knowing where her students were coming from.

By knowing the background and family life of each student, I knew what to expect and sometimes what to overlook, she was quoted to have said. She rarely found it necessary to spank students. However, she was a stickler for rules and expected students to follow them.

If we broke one of her rules, she’d discipline us, Elliott wrote. She ran her classroom like a Top Sergeant, yet she was both kind and loving to everyone.

That kind and loving spirit was the spark that created the Orell Farley Foundation. Grant forms are available from the Peoples State Bank as Trustee of the Foundation, which has offices at 100 W. Washington Street in Newton. You may request an application by stopping by the main bank or emailing psbnewton@psbnewton.com.