2026 News
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Field Trip Time!
Thanks to nearly $5,000 in support from the Vandalia-Butler Foundation’s VISIONS fund and the Vandalia-Butler Optimist Club, students at Demmitt Elementary School will take a field trip to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. For many, it will be their first time…
Playing It Forward
Pickleball players are playing it forward in Vandalia. Thanks to the success of last fall’s inaugural Paddle-Palooza, a 36-hour pickleball marathon held at Helke Park, a portion of the Helke Learning Center’s playground will soon be shaded, creating a safer and more…
Big Dreams. Bold Support. Record Giving.
The Vandalia-Butler Foundation will award a record $36,940 in educational grants this year for innovative initiatives in the Vandalia-Butler City Schools.The grants support more than a dozen initiatives, including an augmented reality welding system to help teach…
A Heart as Vast as an Ocean
“She had the biggest, most passionate heart. She was simply too good for this world.” That is how Melissa Carreon Jaquez (MacLean) remembers her beloved daughter, Makenna Liberty Johnson. Makenna, 20, was killed May 7, 2024, while driving to work on State Route 48…
Filling a Gap
Longtime Butler Township residents and community volunteers John and Kathy Dunn strongly believe in the value of education but saw a gap when they reviewed scholarship opportunities for graduating seniors. That’s why they’ve created a scholarship to support Butler…