As a former Tri-Village Lions Club president, co-founder of the Tri-Village Packers and founder and president of Disability Access Information and Support, serving others is in Jarrow’s blood.
Ray LaVoie
Big city beginnings
Growing up in the heart of Chicago, within a mile of the city, Jane Jarrow was not a Tri-Village native – but she was always a Lion. Her grandfather was a charter member and five-time president of his local Lions Club, where he maintained his membership for more than 50 years.
“I went to a Lions Club camp when I was 10 years old,” Jarrow says. “So Lions Club was kind of in my DNA.”
Both of Jarrow’s parents graduated from Purdue University, and after her father became the director of the university’s speech and hearing program, Jarrow spent much of her youth in the speech clinic. She followed in her father’s footsteps, pursuing both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech and hearing at Purdue. She obtained both degrees within four years.
Following graduation, she moved back to Chicago, where she worked in the public schools as a speech pathologist. After a few years, she felt a different calling.
“I wanted to teach,” Jarrow says. “It’s what I’m best at.”
A new path
Jane Jarrow
Jarrow meets her daughter in Vietnam.
Jarrow obtained her Ph.D. at Wichita State University and came to Columbus to be on the faculty at The Ohio State University in the fall of 1976. Unfortunately, it was not exactly a warm welcome to the Buckeye State.
“It was unbelievably cold and snowy and terrible,” Jarrow says. “Everybody kept saying, ‘Columbus, Ohio, can only have a winter this bad once every 10,000 years.’ And the following year was worse.”
Jarrow spent six years at OSU, and during this time, she became involved with a grassroots organization, the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). For 14 years, she served as the executive director, and during this time, she took a trip abroad that changed her life.
In 1993, Jarrow was the leader of a technical assistance mission that went to Vietnam to assist kids with disabilities. On the last day, they visited an orphanage that was specifically for kids with disabilities.
“There was a little girl sitting in a high chair by herself because she had fallen and broken her leg,” Jarrow says. “I kind of coaxed her and held my finger out. She grabbed my finger and smiled at me, and nine months later, I went back and brought her home.”
Jarrow’s daughter, Cottie, was 3-and-a-half years old when she was brought home to Columbus. Cottie has cerebral palsy, and while she doesn’t speak often, Jarrow says that her daughter is the sharper one.
Jarrow continued her work with AHEAD for a few years, but in 1996, she shifted her career path, stepping away from her association role to devote more time to raising her daughter, who required consistent care. Wanting to be present for her daughter’s milestones, she transitioned into private consulting and founded Disability Access Information and Support (DAIS), through which she partners with colleges and universities nationwide to enhance services for students with disabilities in higher education.
In 2007, as Cottie entered her junior year of high school, she received her first cell phone – a milestone that marked an important step toward independence. With this new communication method, she could spend time on her own, giving Jarrow more time to pursue additional passions.
Looking for the Lions
Jane Jarrow
Jarrow at the Volunteer UA Fair with Al Sulser, Shirley Brooks-Jones and Paul McCalla.
In November of 2007, Jarrow joined the Tri-Village Lions Club.
“Most people join the Lions Club because someone who is a Lion invites them in,” Jarrow says. “I went looking for the Lions Club.”
As a private consultant, much of Jarrow’s time is spent alone in front of a computer, and often, she does not directly see the impact of her work. The Lions Club is a way for Jarrow to both connect with and give back to her community in a way she can tangibly see.
In 2007, the club was primarily men, and its efforts mainly centered on fundraising. Jarrow initially struggled with the focus on fundraising, but as she learned more about the organization, she found fulfillment in the community service projects the club supported.
“About a year and a half after I joined the Lions Club, I was introducing myself to somebody, and I said, ‘Hi, I’m Lion Jarrow,’” Jarrow says. “That was the day that I became a Lion. (There comes) a point where it becomes a part of your thinking, in terms of who you are.”
Jarrow has devoted nearly 20 years to the Tri-Village Lions Club, taking on leadership roles including president, board member and service chair. During these years, the Tri-Village Lions Club has shifted from traditional fundraisers, such as its long-running light bulb sale, to projects that combine fundraising with service. The club has also expanded to roughly 50 percent men and 50 percent women.
Initiatives such as the Leap into Literacy book drive, the Give a Book, Get a Book program for children and the Give Your Write Arm to a Soldier letter-writing campaign engaged both students and the community in meaningful ways. The club’s annual pancake breakfast and Eat Well and Do Good pie sales now also provide meals and baked goods to families in need, turning community gatherings into opportunities for service and support.
The Tri-Village Packers
Jane Jarrow
Jarrow and Craig Smith accept a donation from Wright-Pratt Credit Union.
In recent years, the Lions have committed to focusing on food insufficiency, one of its five pillars of philanthropy. In May of 2023, Jarrow attended a Lions Club workshop centered around tackling hunger, and she took her ideas to a Network UA meeting that August. Her initial idea was a backpack program where kids in need would be sent home with food for three-day weekends, but she knew that, realistically, this would be too big of an ask.
Jarrow's mind whirled as community members shared ideas around the table, but by the time it was her turn, she had crafted a pitch. Jarrow proposed sending food home for those in need during the five-day Thanksgiving break.
Immediately, community members and organizations expressed their interest, and the Tri-Village Packers was born. The program was established with a $5,000 grant from the Upper Arlington Community Foundation (UACF) and additional support from community entities such as the Tri-Village Rotary Club, the City of Grandview, the City of Upper Arlington, the Tri-Village Lions and the Northwest Kiwanis Club. UACF also serves as the club’s fiscal agent, allowing community members to donate to the Packers through its website.
“We have no overhead expenses,” Jarrow says. “One hundred percent of the money that is donated goes to food, goes to feeding hungry children.”
The packing process involves individual bags for each dietary need, with careful research and labeling. The school districts acts as a firewall, protecting the anonymity of the families receiving the food.
There are between 400-500 kids in the Tri-Village area who are a part of the free school lunch program, but before the Tri-Village Packers Club, this need went largely unnoticed.
“These are our neighbors, and nothing was happening for them because nobody knew they were there,” Jarrow says.
The Packers have also introduced grab-and-go tubs at several of the schools, where kids can choose from free snacks such as granola bars, yogurt and chips. Looking into the future, Jarrow hopes to implement more of these bins, along with reaching more hungry children in Tri-Village.
Ray LaVoie
A legacy of service
From her early days shaped by family service to her leadership with the Tri-Village Lions and the creation of the Tri-Village Packers, Jarrow has devoted her life to lifting others up. Whether through advancing disability services, mentoring within her community or ensuring local children don’t go hungry, her legacy is one of compassion in action.
“It’s my connection with people,” Jarrow says. “It’s very rewarding for me. It keeps me going to be able to actually see, hands-on, that I’m making a difference.”
Megan Brokamp is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mbrokamp@cityscenemediagroup.com.
