Travis Wiersma Memorial Nursing Scholarship

Travis Wiersma was a night janitor at Madison College for 15 years. During his work in the nurses’ training area, he noticed that the equipment was old and outdated. In 2008 he saw that someone was offering grants of $25,000 to people who would use the funds to benefit their community. He applied for the grant, saying that nursing students were training on outdated equipment and would not be able to use the newer up to date tools in the real world.

The funds were offered by The Jenny Jones Foundation. Jenny was so moved by the selfless nature of this request that Travis was her first pick from over 2,000 applicants. Within weeks, the nursing department at MATC received $25,000 worth of new supplies, all because of the caring heart of Travis Wiersma.

Nursing and MATC were a big part of Travis’s family history. His mother and grandfather both worked at the school and his grandmother, Bea, was a nurse and fostered his appreciation of the nursing profession.

 Travis passed away on May 26, 2020 and in his memory, the Jenny Jones Foundation has established the Travis Wiersma Memorial Nursing Scholarship.