The Johnson Foundation of Jamestown has granted $100,000 to the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities to create an endowment to be known as the John Alfred and Oscar Johnson Memorial Trust/BPU Good Neighbor Fund at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation.

The Johnson Foundation donation helps the BPU convert the “pass through” Good Neighbor Fund, and formerly the Customer Assistance Program, into a permanently endowed fund held in perpetuity at the CRCF. Income from the new endowment fund will continue to assist customers with a consistent record of payments who run into emergencies (such as house fires or sudden illness) that prevent them from paying their BPU bills.

In the past, the BPU Good Neighbor Fund, which has not been an endowment, was limited to customers who receive no public assistance. Beginning in 2015, the fund’s availability will include those people, with a six-month record of payment, who run into emergencies, but who are elderly on Social Security or who are on unemployment for six months or less. The maximum amount allowed for assistance per year is $150. In addition, aid from the fund is given on a first-come, first-serve basis as money earned by the fund may be depleted at any time and may not be available.

The BPU will continue to raise funds through customer newsletter sponsorships and individual customer donations. Applications for the John Alfred and Oscar Johnson Memorial Trust/BPU Good Neighbor Fund still will be handled by the local Salvation Army in Brooklyn Square. Only the Salvation Army qualifies recipients for the fund.

The Johnson Foundation was created by the late John Alfred Johnson in 1996 and has been administered by local attorney John L. Sellstrom, co-trustee, and Carole Sellstrom, executive director of the foundation.

Johnson moved to Jamestown from Sweden in his twenties and later became an American citizen but cherished his Swedish heritage. He worked until his retirement at Marlin-Rockwell in Jamestown and worked nights and weekends with his older brother, the late Oscar Johnson, a local contractor. Neither man married and both lived simply, saving and investing their earnings well. After Oscar passed away, John Alfred Johnson moved to a Jamestown apartment where he lived alone until his death. Because Sellstrom served as the Swedish Consul in Jamestown, Johnson sought the assistance of Sellstrom in handling his business decisions. The two men became good and trusted friends, with the attorney calling Sellstrom every day.

Sellstrom found Johnson to be quite remarkable, in that, despite the donor’s wealth, his only luxury was to purchase a new car every three years. He later became blind and gave up driving, choosing to walk or ride the bus around Jamestown.

Two of his favorite organizations were the James Prendergast Library and the Salvation Army. He and his friends enjoyed the library as a warm place to go in winter and as a place to read newspapers the library received from Sweden. Johnson admired the Salvation Army’s work and the Sellstroms believe that he would be pleased to know that the Salvation Army qualifies all recipients of the Good Neighbor Fund.

Sellstrom said the endowment for the Good Neighbor Fund would be “right up John Johnson’s alley,” because the fund helps “working people,” which Johnson considered himself to be.

“We are confident that John Alfred Johnson would be delighted by this endowment carrying the names of his brother and himself,” Mrs. Sellstrom said. “It would be something of which he would very much approve.”

David L. Leathers, BPU general manager, thanked the Johnson Foundation and the Sellstroms for the endowment which will assist BPU customers in need in the years ahead.

“It’s really fantastic,” Leathers said. “We couldn’t be more thankful on behalf of our customers.”

Randall J. Sweeney, CRCF executive director, also expressed deep appreciation for the endowment to be held by the Community Foundation.

“We thank the Johnson Foundation, the Sellstroms and the BPU for entrusting this fund to the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation,” Sweeney said. “We pledge to administer the fund reliability and faithfully, and to provide for the intended use of the fund.”