A press release from the Northern Indiana Community Foundation shares that the Starke County Community Foundation (SCCF) has received a matching fund grant totaling $750,000 as part of the ninth phase of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s initiative, Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT IX).
The Starke County Community Foundation will use $540,000 of the funding to strengthen the Foundation’s unrestricted endowment, providing flexible charitable resources that allow the Foundation to respond to emerging needs, support local nonprofits, invest in community priorities, and improve quality of life for future generations. Another $210,000 will support the Starke County Youth Club’s Early Learning Initiative, which will help address the shortage of accessible, high-quality childcare in Starke County by establishing a licensed preschool program serving three- and four-year-old children.
Qualifying matching funds raised to support the community foundation’s unrestricted endowment will be eligible for a $2(grantor)-to-$1(grantee) match from the Endowment while qualifying matching funds raised for the Starke County Youth Club’s Early Learning Initiative will be eligible for a $1(grantor)-to-$1(grantee) match.
“This match opportunity helps us show the community that the SCCF is where giving grows,” said Jacque Ryan, Director of Development of the Starke County Community Foundation. “We’re grateful for the chance to triple community fund contributions once again and to partner with Starke County Youth Club to support their Early Learning Initiative and allow donors to double their dollars for this vital community programming.”
In the past year alone, grants from Starke County’s community funds have supported projects like HealthLinc’s Food as Medicine Program, Junior Achievement serving Starke County, the North Judson Mint Festival, and building wheelchair ramps for disabled residents. Dozens of other nonprofits, schools, and community groups benefit each year thanks to the generosity of donors to community funds.
Through GIFT IX, Lilly Endowment has awarded matching grants totaling $124.5 million to community foundations across Indiana. Eligible community foundations submitted proposals requesting grants ranging from $250,000 to $13.2 million based on the population of the counties they serve.
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 and residents to help their communities thrive. Through GIFT IX, Lilly Endowment has awarded $259.7 million to support community foundations in each of Indiana’s 92 counties. These grants are helping community foundations grow their financial resources and further strengthen their ability to address their community’s highest-priority challenges and opportunities.
About Starke County Community Foundation
The Starke County Community Foundation is an affiliate of the Northern Indiana Community Foundation, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) public trust. The mission of the Community Foundation is to improve the quality of life in our communities by assisting donors in fulfilling their charitable wishes. We do this by building endowment funds for our communities with contributions, both large and small.
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.
