DeKalb County Community Foundation announces new Friends of JAMS Fund

SYCAMORE – The DeKalb County Community Foundation recently announced the creation of the new Friends of JAMS Operating Reserve Fund, meant to aid the Kenyan secondary school for girls found by Northern Illinois University faculty.

According to a news release, the new fund provides Friends of JAMS with financial reserves for emergencies or significant expenses.

The Jane Adeny Memorial School for Girls began in 2011 through the efforts of Northern Illinois University faculty members Teresa Wasonga and Andrew Otieno. JAMS is a not-for-profit, four-year, secondary school in Muhoroni, Kisumu County, Kenya.

The Friends of JAMS nonprofit organization began on 2013 to support the school and increase awareness of the importance of secondary education for girls in the developing world. JAMS’s mission is to provide a transformative learning environment where everybody has an opportunity to grow with justice and integrity. Friends of JAMS provides scholarships to make high school possible for young women who otherwise would not be able to attend because of limited resources.

The school enrolls about 165 students each year, according to the release. As of 2022, more than 200 girls have graduated with a 100% graduation rate.

Friends of JAMS provides scholarships to individual students and funding for campus infrastructure, learning materials, and teacher professional development through its donors. In addition to the standard curriculum, JAMS also enables students to develop practical and entrepreneurial skills through on-campus micro-enterprises, including a dairy, a poultry project, a bakery, and a greenhouse. The projects provide food for students and skills they will be able to use in adult life and careers. Most of the funds raised by Friends of JAMS goes directly to the school to support its educational mission. The Friends of JAMS also raises money for a science building, a computer lab, a library, and other needs of the campus.

Donations to the Friends of JAMS Operating Reserve Fund can be made online at jamskenya.org or sent directly to Friends of JAMS at P.O. Box 292, Sycamore, IL 60178. For other questions or to start your own charitable fund at the DeKalb County Community Foundation, contact Dan Templin at 815-748-5383 or dan@dekalbccf.org.