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Lilly Endowment Inc. awards planning grant to Community Foundation of Elkhart County

December 12, 2023

The Community Foundation of Elkhart County has received a $90,000 planning grant as part of the eighth phase of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s initiative, Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII). With the grant, the community foundation will expand the work of Building Strong Brains, an effort to help young children in Elkhart County be poised for success.

The Community Foundation of Elkhart County is one of 92 community foundations and affiliate funds in Indiana receiving planning grants through GIFT VIII. These grants are designed to help community foundations collaborate with local partners to engage broad and diverse stakeholders in their communities and deepen their understanding of their communities’ highest-priority challenges and opportunities. In 2024, the Community Foundation of Elkhart County will have the opportunity to request funding to implement strategic initiatives and activities developed during the planning period that address especially compelling needs in Elkhart County.

“We are thrilled that Lilly Endowment Inc. once again saw fit to entrust us with a grant to help improve life in Elkhart County,” said Community Foundation President Pete McCown. “We look forward to working diligently in the coming months to make best use of the funds.”

The planning grant will support the work of Building Strong Brains, a collaboration led by local nonprofits to help prepare Elkhart County’s children for success across six developmental areas by the time they arrive at kindergarten. Building Strong Brains will work with the University of Notre Dame’s Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society to collect and analyze data, as well as do additional planning and research. The planning grant will also support the effort to build strong community involvement in the coalition’s work.

Lilly Endowment created the GIFT initiative in 1990 to help local communities in Indiana develop the philanthropic capacity to identify local needs and challenges and work with other organizations to help their communities thrive. Through GIFT VIII, Lilly Endowment has allocated up to $210 million to support Indiana’s community foundations in growing their financial resources and further strengthening their ability to address their community’s highest-priority challenges and opportunities.

About Community Foundation of Elkhart County
Community Foundation of Elkhart County partners with donors to leverage their philanthropy in ways that transform lives. Since 1989, the Community Foundation has helped generous donors to meet community needs, provide scholarship opportunities to local students, and make grants to nonprofit organizations working to improve Elkhart County. The Community Foundation strives to be a local entity known for inspiring good and impacting success.

About Lilly Endowment Inc.
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. The Endowment funds significant programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. However, it maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.