SPRINGDALE -- The Walmart Foundation committed more money this week to The Jones Center to help sustain scholarships and other amenities.

The foundation presented a check for $250,000 to the center in its lobby Friday morning.

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 in a row to be used for scholarships and 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. The center began offering scholarships two years ago. They help make the center's 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 from being a barrier to the center's facilities and programs.

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

Bernice 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 grant the foundation gave to the center is part of the organization's Northwest Arkansas focused 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 looks at access to arts and recreation.

Officials announced a donation from Johnelle Hunt in the center's lobby Feb. 26. Hunt is the widow of J.B. Hunt and co-founder of J.B. Hunt Transportation Services of Lowell. The amount of the donation wasn't disclosed.

The donation closed a two-year fundraising campaign bringing in $30 million, Clifford said at the time. He also said the end of the campaign means the center is "sustainable" and will be open for a long time.

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Springdale's Jones Center receives grant from Walmart Foundation