Jersey State Bank went all out in support of Jonny's Day on Friday.

Jonny’s Day is an event Jerseyville community won’t forget in quite some time. Efforts on Friday raised thousands of dollars and was a display of support to Jonny and his parents Jon and Kimberly Wade.

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Young Jonny is undergoing radiation and other cancer treatments at Children’s Hospital.

Kathy Landess of Jersey State Bank, helped come up with the day. Each quarter Jersey State Bank supports a different charity and she persuaded the bank to support Jonny and his parents this quarter in fund-raising for his treatments and other expenses.

“I talked to my president and he thought it would be a good idea. We also talked to the Jersey County Business Association about challenging other member businesses to do something and to do it quickly because of the seriousness of his illness. Jim Hoefert was extremely supportive of this effort.”

Kimberly and Jon were with Jonny for his first radiation treatments on Friday and she said Jonny was super excited about Jonny’s Day.

“We love the T-shirts made by Julie’s Graphics,” she said. “This morning, Jonny told me I had to rub his feet because it was Jonny’s Day. Of course I obliged. I pray for no side effects of the radiation. We wanted to say we love you all.”

Landess said the outpouring of community support has been just overwhelming.

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On Thursday night, Julie’s Graphics started distributing T-shirts, with proceeds after expenses going to Jonny’s cause.

Julie Pohlman, owner of Julie’s Graphics, said she believes she sold more than 1,000 T-shirts to support the cause and more than $5,000 will be donated.

“I was ecstatic to do it,” she said. “I didn’t think it would be this big, but I am so glad we were able to help the family. I can’t imagine what they are going through.”

Pohlman set her crew up to distribute the T-shirts outside on Thursday and the line became extremely crowded, but everyone was patient and the Jersey Police also showed their support by helping reroute motorists due to the heavy traffic that ensued.

“Even during parades I have never seen it like that,” Pohlman said of the amount of traffic there to support Jonny.

Piasa Winery & Pub held a benefit on Friday with an open mic night and all bar tips were donated. Employees shaved their heads for donations.

Follow Johnny’s journey on Facebook@Project Team Jonny. Donate at http://www.gofundme.com/uj8ge4. Anyone wishing to drop off checks can at Jersey State Bank. An account has been set up for Jonny at the bank.

The day culminated with an idea Jerseyville Park and Recreation Director Angela Sullivan had: a “Cram The Place Night” for Jonny at the center. There were four basketball games during the evening and all were well attended and during each there was a sea of gray. A total of 494 attended the games and $1,216 was donated.

Through the day in Jerseyville, people wore gray in schools and businesses and in turn donated money to Jonny’s cause.

“We had four games,” she said. “Jonny is a member of the Steckel Produce team and we added a game for that team. It’s a really good feeling to come together as a community to help a family that didn’t have any local family here, and this will cause cancer awareness.”

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