Welcome!

Jennings County Community Foundation is pleased to announce their Fall Cycle of competitive unrestricted grants. This Fall Cycle is a part of the Foundation's regular competitive grants program. The Jennings County Community Foundation Board of Directors has approved up to $10,000.00 for the purpose of supporting non-profit community projects. This competitive grant money is from interest on endowed funds that were earmarked by the Board to help meet community needs in Jennings County. This is the eleventh consecutive year the foundation has offered the Fall Competitive Grant Program. Community organizations are encouraged to develop a fundable project for consideration. The grants can be used to help fund creative and innovative ideas and projects that enhance life in Jennings County.

JCCF makes grants to non-profit organizations that have a need for a "helping hand" on a community project. The Foundation is most interested in grants in the area of the Foundation's mission which include the fields of community service, social service, education, health, environment and the arts. The Community Foundation favors grant requests that:

• improve the quality of life in Jennings County
• reach a broad segment of the community, especially those citizens whose needs are not being met by existing services that are normally expected to be provided by private rather than government sources
• seek seed money to realize innovative opportunities to meet needs in the community
• stimulate and encourage additional funding
• promote cooperation, avoid duplication of effort and are supported by some amount of matching funds
• help make a charitable organization more effective and efficient and better able to be self-sustaining
• meet "one time" projects or non-profit needs rather than re-occurring costs or expenses

JCCF does not typically provide unrestricted competitive grants for political activities, national organizations (unless the monies are used in Jennings County), religious organizations for the sole purpose of furthering that religion, grants to individuals, fund-raising projects, ongoing operational expenses, or contributions to endowments.

All grants will be awarded in accordance with current regulations issued pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code, as amended.

To be eligible for consideration for a grant, organizations must either pick up a grant packet and application at the Community Foundation Office at 111 North State Street, North Vernon, OR download the information packet and application from the Jennings County Community Foundation Website. The application will be available on the website and at the office beginning on August 23rd. Applications are due at the Foundation Office by September 20th . Please bring the applications to the Foundation office between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

For additional information or if there are questions, contact Joanie Van Horn, Executive Director, Jennings County Community Foundation at 812-346-5553 or by email at jccf@jenningsfoundation.net.

The 2022 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship application is now available in Jennings County through the Jennings County Community Foundation. The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program (LECSP) will provide 143 scholarships statewide and one scholarship in Jennings County. LECSP scholarships may be used for otherwise unreimbursed full tuition, required fees, and a special allocation of up to $900 per year. The special allocation may cover the costs for required books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university.

The program, administered statewide by Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) and locally in Jennings County through the Jennings County Community Foundation, is open to all Indiana residents who:

• graduate from an accredited Indiana high school by 2022 and receive their diploma no later than June 30, 2022;
• intend to pursue a full-time baccalaureate course of study at an eligible college or university in Indiana; and
• meet the criteria specific to their local community foundation. Visit www.jenningsfoundation.net for complete information regarding the Jennings County's application criteria.

Students can learn more about the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship in Jennings County and apply for this scholarship by visiting www.jenningsfoundation.net. Applications must be completed and submitted by September 21, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. to be considered.

Applications will be evaluated, and one finalist will be nominated by the Jennings County Community Foundation, and their name will be submitted to ICI for final selection of the recipients. Scholarship recipients will be notified in December.

Lilly Endowment created LECSP for the 1997-1998 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling more than $424 million. Nearly 5,000 Indiana students have received Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships since the program's inception.

The primary purposes of LECSP 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.

Jennings County Community Foundation is again pleased to offer LECSP for its 22nd year in Jennings County. "Over the years the LECSP Scholarship opportunity has awarded forty students the opportunity to attend the school of their choice and attain a degree in their chosen field that may have not been realized had the LECSP Scholarship not been available" said Joanie Van Horn, executive director.

Several years ago, in 1994, a small group of people decided to make a difference for good in Jennings County. From a humble start of $67 caringly placed in a coffee can, the Jennings County Community Foundation was born. As a result of that early act of faith by a few resolute to making a difference, the foundation has time and time again responded to a variety of needs in our community as our community has responded to the needs of strengthening the Foundation. We strive on the rich history of "doing good" for our community, Jennings County. Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic 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.

Since 1997, Independent Colleges of Indiana has administered the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program statewide with funding provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Founded in 1948, ICI serves as the collective voice for the state's 30 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.