SPRINGDALE -- The Walmart Foundation presented a check for $250,000 on Friday to The Jones Center to help sustain scholarships and other amenities.

This is the fourth year in a row the foundation has given the center a grant, said Kelly Kemp-McLintock, chief advancement officer for the center.

It's the second grant in a row to be used for scholarships, meeting space for nonprofit organizations and youth programming.

The center has almost 3,500 members, said Ed Clifford, chief executive officer of the center and Jones Trust.

One-third of those members have scholarships, which the center began offering two years ago to help make its facilities and programs available to those who might not otherwise be able to afford them.

The center is a gift from Bernice Jones to the Northwest Arkansas community, said Karen Parker, senior manager for the foundation. The foundation wants to help prevent income challenges from being a barrier to use of the center's facilities and programs.

"We just appreciate all that The Jones Center does," she said.

Jones, widow of Harvey Jones, opened The Jones Center in 1995. The facility once was a truck terminal for Jones Truck Lines, which was their business.

The foundation's grant to the center is part of the organization's Northwest Arkansas Giving Program, Parker said.

The program gives grants throughout Benton and Washington counties in the areas of quality of life, hunger and healthy nutrition and access to medical and dental care. The center falls under the first category, which includes access to arts and recreation.

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Walmart Foundation gives $250,000 to center