DEL.ICIO.USThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/05/08
Jenny Jones, a former Buckhead resident and talk-show personality, is looking to give away money in Georgia.
Jones started a nonprofit called Jenny's Heroes that provides grants up to $25,000 to people, programs or agencies she deems worthy.
 Courtesy Jenny Jones | ||
| Former talk-show host Jenny Jones (left) helped teacher Debbie Stikeleather with a $25,000 grant to buy books for students at Stikeleather's school, Katella High School in California. | ||
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| 'Of all the things I've done, this is the most rewarding,' Jenny Jones says of her nonprofit. | ||
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"I never expected to make the kind of money that people make in television," said Jones, who lived in Atlanta in the 1970s and honed her career at the Punchline comedy club in Sandy Springs in the 1980s with her "Girls Night Out" routine.
"Now, I have this money, and I want to do something really special with it."
Jones gave her first grant early in 2008 in Wisconsin and followed with checks to causes in 17 other states. The grants have ranged from $2,000 to the maximum of $25,000.
Her first grant has been one of her favorites. A janitor at a school for nurses knew that the students were training with outdated equipment. He wrote to Jones and asked her to help by restocking classrooms with the latest gear.
The school administrators were tickled at the unexpected upgrade and later held an event to honor the janitor.
Jones thought about the ripple effect of the request when she gave the money: The equipment will help trainees that pass through the school for years.
"Think of that one idea he had that will be impacting thousands of nurses," Jones said.
She has given to schools, individuals, and emergency responders such as fire departments. She gave money to a dentist who applied dental sealants to the teeth of 1,000 children to cut down on cavities in a poor and sparsely populated area of Montana. Her money has built a basketball court, bought furniture for a veterans center and choir robes for a church.
She considers the charitable program the highlight of her career.
"Of all the things I've done, this is the most rewarding," Jones said.
She has been out of show business for about five years. She now lives in Los Angeles and spends about eight hours a day reading through applications for grants and maintaining her Web site.
She said she considers herself very lucky to have hit the big time with her show, which ran for 12 years.
It was tabloid TV. It gained infamy in the mid-1990s when a taped show, which never aired, led to a murder. One subject on the show admitted to a homosexual crush on an unknowing heterosexual friend. The friend shot the gay man days after the taping.
Jones' show ended its run in 2003.
"Now that the show is over and I have more time, I want to do something more meaningful and bigger and grander than I ever have before," Jones said.
She plans to continue giving her Jenny's Heroes grants until she has given away $1 million.
Information and applications can be found at JennysHeroes.com.
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