2025 Spring Grants Awarded

At Jonesboro State Bank, we understand the importance of giving back.  That is why we donate 10% of our profits back into our local communities.  It's our promise.  It's our pledge.  We call it Pledge 10.

Pledge 10 grants totaling $74,104 were awarded during the Spring 2025 grant cycle to the following organizations and agencies:

Jonesboro Hodge Elementary School- Tiger Athletics: $10,000

 Tiger Athletics project is to fund sessions with a local training facility to increase basketball foundational skills such as hand-eye coordination, functional movement skills, endurance, and strength. The facility offers on-site coaching, to accommodate our transportation needs. Grades 4-12 will benefit from this training program. The project would also fund an at-home UCA Cheer Camp. 

The Foundation for Preservation of the Caroline Dorman Nature Preserve- Briarwood Tractor Grant: $10,000

In 2019 a tornado went through Briarwood creating a great deal of damage. The tractor purchase will benefit all the people that visit Briarwood well into the future by helping us to continue to maintain this magnificent treasure.

Winn Main Street- Street Art Symphony:   $10,000

Painting of murals can offer aesthetic enhancement transforming those plain or unattractive spaces into visually appealing areas. They offer cultural expression that reflects the history of our community which helps us to preserve and celebrate our towns heritage for years to come. The community mural is a collaborative effort that will allow citizens to sign up for time slot and be an artist to help paint the mural, this creates a sense of pride and ownership. Murals are a great way to convey important messages and raise awareness. Murals offer both emotional and psychological benefits by providing a sense of pride and ownership, not to mention they are uplifting to the spirit.

Winnfield Middle School- Targets Literacy and Health: $10,000

At Winnfield Middle School, we are targeting the whole student, offering support to their whole self, physically, mentally, and emotionally. In Winn Parish, roughly 1 in 5 middle school students (ages 6-17) are obese, and obesity can lead to serious health problems. Obesity can negatively impact literacy rates, particularly in children, by potentially affecting cognitive functions like working memory and attention, which are crucial for learning and academic performance. We at Winnfield Middle School would like to create a physical aspect to reading by purchasing fit desk(bikes) to allow students to read and ride their way to being fit. 

Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities- Prime Time: Family Literacy for North Central LA:   $9,750

Prime Time Family Reading programs in Jonesboro State Bank’s service area is two six-week programs. Each weekly session is 90-minutes, engages an average of 30 participants, and begins with a meal. While lowering a barrier to participation, the mealtime promotes balanced eating habits and encourages families to use that time for shared discussion. Next, a trained Storyteller and Scholar read a high-quality, engaging children’s book and lead a discussion on the story’s themes. The site team models how caregivers can do the same at home, and families are given the books to add to their home libraries each week. Since first hosting Prime Time in Jackson Parish Library in 1996, we have held 41 programs in Jonesboro State Bank’s service area. However, in recent years, our funding has allowed for fewer programs in this area. With this grant we hope to expand our reach in the Winn, Jackson, Lincoln, and Bienville Parish areas with two additional programs.

Jonesboro Hodge High School- Scorer’s Table:  $7,664.00

A scorer’s table is an essential command center during basketball games. This is where scorers keep track of the game's score, fouls, timeouts and other important statistics. It also provides accurate information to the scoreboard and announcers. The current scorer’s table is older and does not adequately meet the needs of the school. The new scorer’s table would be capable of projecting real time information onto television screens and would be consistently more reliable with keeping players, coaches, referees, announcers and spectators current with game results. 

Jonesboro Hodge High School- Agriscience Yard Maintenance Tools:   $6,500

With this project, students will learn the basic skills of sharpening lawn mower blades, changing oil, restringing weed eaters, operating edgers, pruning, and operating numerous yard equipment. This year alone, 104 students participate in Agriscience classes daily. That is more than half of the students in this school. These students will learn the valuable lesson of small outdoor power tools and basic lawn up keeping.

Louisiana Tech Early Childhood Education Center- Enhancing Educational Excellence with a New Promethean Board:   $6,000

The Promethean Board offers a dynamic, interactive platform that allows teachers to display lessons, videos, and resources in ways that are engaging and collaborative. Its touch-responsive interface enables students to participate actively in lessons, reinforcing content in a multisensory manner that caters to different learning styles. The implementation of a Promethean Board would help bridge the technology gap, support innovative teaching strategies, and contribute to better educational outcomes for our students.

Jonesboro Hodge Middle School- JHMS Softball:   $4,190

JHMS plans to establish a girls' softball team. This program will benefit students by helping them improve skills and achieve goals. It will also assist with overall fitness, time management, sportsmanship and improved concentration. In addition to the benefit to the girls who will play softball, the other students, parents and community members will also benefit through increased support of the school, increased engagement in sporting events and pride in accomplishments.