Applications available for Jasper County projects and activities
Newton (May 19, 2025) – The Orell Farley Foundation is accepting applications for the annual grant
cycle. Since its inception in 2018, the Orell Farley Foundation has awarded a total of $165,954.53
toward projects that benefit the general public of Jasper County. Initially funded in 2018, the Orell Farley
Foundation supplements qualified organizations in Jasper County, Illinois that sponsor projects and
activities that enhance public health, safety, recreation and education for the use and enjoyment of the
community. An organization much 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, a retired schoolteacher, 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 over her 45-year
span 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 said. She rarely found it necessary to spank students. However, she was a stickler for
rules and expected them to be followed.
“If we broke one of her rules, she’d discipline us but never made us feel as though we were a total waste
of humanity because she had to,” Elliott wrote. “She ran her classroom like a Top Sergeant, yet she was
both kind and loving to everyone.”
That kind and loving spirit is the spark that created the Orell Farley Foundation. The Foundation is
accepting applications for grants through July 31, 2025 to charitable, education, religious or scientific
purposes within Jasper County that currently have 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service.
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.
CLASSIFIED SECTION
GRANT APPLICATIONS FOR THE ORELL FARLEY FOUNDATION WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH JULY 31, 2025.
TO RECEIVE APPLICATION FORMS, CONTACT MELISA GRIFFITH, TRUST OFFICER, PEOPLES STATE
BANK, 100 W. WASHINGTON, PO BOX 328 NEWTON IL 62448, PHONE 618-783-2321. COMPLETED
FORMS SHOULD ALSO BE POSTMARKED AND MAILED TO ABOVE ADDRESS
