The Starke County Community Foundation announced Hannah Danford of Oregon-Davis High School as the recipient of the 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Starke County.
Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.
Hannah is the daughter of Matt and Jessi Danford and plans to obtain her Bachelor’s Degree at an Indiana college or university after graduation. She is involved in FFA, soccer, cheerleading, National Honors Society and several other organizations in which she has received awards and honors. Throughout high school, Hannah has spent numerous hours volunteering with 4-H, through her youth group, Oregon-Davis food drives, and many more local organizations.
“Hannah is such a remarkable student; I know that she is going to take full advantage of the wonderful opportunities that this scholarship has to offer,” said Shannon Berger, NICF Scholarship Coordinator. “The scholarship committee had such an amazing group of students as the finalists this year. All of these students are great representatives of Starke County.”
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 Starke County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar nominee, consideration was given to academics, volunteerism, and community involvement. After the field of applicants was narrowed down, the nominee was submitted to ICI, the statewide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, which approves the final selection of scholarship recipient.
The 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship finalists include Drew Cooper, Hannah Flores Ness, Bailey Hering, and Portland Minix, who will receive $1,000 scholarships from the Starke County Community Foundation.
Lilly Endowment created the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program for the 1997-98 school year. Since then, grant funding in excess of $490 million has supported more than 5,300 Indiana students who have received scholarships through the program.
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 Starke County Community Foundation works to improve the quality of life in their communities by assisting donors in fulfilling their charitable wishes forever.
