By Lauren Puglisi

At the start of Tuesday’s board of education meeting, members of the Jackson Educational Foundation were pleasantly surprised when they received a check for $20,000 from their fellow residents. Bill Baletti and Paul Mayerowitz of the Westlake Golf and Country Club Community, and Hal Wohl of the Four Seasons at Metedeconk Lakes, presented the check to the president of the foundation, Martin Spielman.

The Jackson Educational Foundation is an all-volunteer, community based, non-profit organization that strives to raise and spend funds in support of educational activities.

Spielman said he was honored when he found out that volunteers from Westlake and Metedeconk had donated money to the foundation.

“People think that the seniors in this town don’t care about education just because they turn down the school budget. But receiving this donation shows that they do care an awful lot about education. I am very thankful to Bill, Paul and Hal for initiating the idea,” Spielman said.

The idea to raise $20,000 for the foundation did not come overnight. It started when Baletti and Mayerowitz filed tax appeals last year and received real estate tax reductions.

When the rest of Westlake and various other senior communities in Jackson got wind of Baletti and Mayerowitz’s savings, they wanted in when it came time to filing appeals this year.

Baletti said the tax assessor did the right thing after meeting with him and finding that taxes for a home in Westlake average about $8,000 to $10,000.

“Instead of having the entire community fileappeals, the assessor lowered property assessment in Westlake, Metedeconk, Cooks Springs and South Knolls,” Baletti said. “We decided through our efforts, since our taxes had been reduced, to give back as a community.”

After discussing the idea of sending donations to various national foundations, the seniors of Jackson decided that they wanted their donations to benefit the Jackson Educational Foundation.

“In spite of what people may think, although many active adults in these communities vote down the budget, it does not mean we are against education because we know education is good,” Baletti said. “I am happy we chose to give money to the foundation because it is an association that very rarely receives donations that directly benefit the youth in Jackson.”

When Baletti, Mayerowitz and Wohl left donation boxes at Westlake and Metedeconk, many months passed before they raised the $20,000.

“The residents felt no obligation to donate. We made sure to leave the box there for several months so residents who travel to Florida and Arizona in the winter would have a chance to donate when they returned,” Baletti said. “As we receive more checks from out-of-town residents, we will send them directly to the foundation.”

The foundation’s vice president, Barbara Spielman, was in shock and couldn’t seem to take a smile off of her face on the night she publicly received the donation.

“The Jackson Educational Foundation has great board members and volunteers. I feel so fortunate to receive this donation,” Mrs. Spielman said. “Nobody knew how much we were going to receive, this amount was such a surprise, I am still trying to catch my breath.”