The Porter County Community Foundation (PCCF) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Porter County: Arieanna Brown of Washington Township High School, Miles O’Shea of Valparaiso High School, and Olivia Pierce of Portage High School. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character and leadership.
“This year’s recipients impressed the committee with their academic achievements and leadership skills,” said Bill Higbie, President & CEO, of the Porter County Community Foundation.
Each Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides for full tuition, required fees and a special allocation of up to $900 per year for required books and required equipment for four years. The scholarship is for full-time undergraduate students leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars may also participate in the Lilly Scholars Network (LSN), which connects both current scholars and alumni with resources and opportunities to be active leaders on their campuses and in their communities. Both the scholarship program and LSN are supported by grants from Lilly Endowment to Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) and Indiana Humanities.
In determining Porter County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar nominees, consideration was given to academic excellence, leadership and engagement in school activities and community involvement, and a highly competitive written essay and in-person interview process with the selection committee. After the field of applicants was narrowed down, nominees were submitted to ICI, the statewide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, which approves the final selection of scholarship recipients.
“Our community has many students who excel both academically and in service to others. The selection process is never easy,” said Higbie.
Lilly Endowment created the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program for the 1998-99 school year and has supported the program every year since with grants totaling in excess of $505 million. More than 5,200 Indiana students have received the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship since the program’s inception.
The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are: 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.
The Porter County Community Foundation collaborates with community members to support their favorite causes by creating and managing permanent endowment funds that make it possible for generosity to last forever. Since 1996, PCCF has awarded over $37 million in grants and scholarships to organizations and students in our community. To learn more about how you can make a lasting difference for your favorite causes, contact the PCCF at 219-465-0294 or visit the Foundation online at PCCF.gives.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. Although the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.
Since 1997, Independent Colleges of Indiana has administered the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program statewide with funding provided by Lilly Endowment. Founded in 1948, ICI serves as the collective voice for the state’s 29 private, nonprofit colleges and universities. ICI institutions employ over 22,000 Hoosiers and generate a total local economic impact of over $5 billion annually. Students at ICI colleges have Indiana’s highest four-year, on-time graduation rates, and ICI institutions produce 30 percent of Indiana’s bachelor’s degrees while enrolling 20 percent of its undergraduates.