by Joe King
When Jalene Thompson and Nick Bourdages of DeKalb held a party to mark their 13th birthdays, they went all out with a DJ, decorations and cake. The only things missing were presents.
Instead, the duo asked their friends to make donations to the NIU February 14 Student Scholarship Fund and collected $580 from the 35 friends who attended the party. They presented the gift to NIU President John Peters in his office Thursday, March 20.
The two had agreed in advance that they wanted to collect money for a charity, said Jalene, who is the daughter of Dan and Kelly Thompson. When the scholarship fund was announced, it seemed like a perfect destination for the gift, she said.
That was fine with Nick, the son of Dean and Kim Bourdages, whose brother Austin is a freshman at NIU and who had attended class in Cole Hall just hours before the shooting.
“I am deeply touched by the generosity of these two young people. It demonstrated a level of maturity you don’t always associate with individuals their age,” said Peters, who gave the two donors a tour of his office and reminisced about his own days as a seventh grader.
The February 14 Student Scholarship Fund was established to honor the memory of the students slain in the Feb. 14 tragedy. The money collected will be distributed through the university’s general scholarship fund.
Including the gift from Jalene and Nick, the fund has collected a total of $200,000 from more than 900 donors. To contribute to the fund, visit the NIU Foundation Online Gifts page or call the NIU Foundation at 1-877-GIV2NIU (1-877-448-2648).