The Vermillion County Community Foundation is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Vermillion County – Carolyn Hamblen of South Vermillion High School. She is the daughter of Courtney Hamblen and Donnie Hamblen. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.

“Carolyn intends to pursue a pharmacy career. She will graduate with a Core 40 with an Academic and Technical Honors diploma. She has a 3.97 GPA while taking AP and Honors courses,” said Nancy Reed, Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Coordinator for the Vermillion County Community Foundation.

Several school activities with leadership roles are on Carolyn’s resume. She serves as Secretary of the National Honor Society, is a member of Academic Excellence, and has been captain of the Academic Super Bowl team for two years. As Co-Founder and President of the Art Club, Carolyn has demonstrated her initiative and leadership. She is also a three-year varsity tennis player and recipient of the Wildcat Award, a one-year member of the basketball team, and served as the IHSAA student-athlete leadership conference representative.

Miss Hamblen works at the Clinton McDonalds and works 20-30 hours weekly as a Crew Trainer. She enjoys the leadership role and communication with staff and the public.

Carolyn values community involvement, demonstrated by her volunteer work at the Clinton Public Library, where she finds great joy in working with children, inspired by her childhood memories. Carolyn has completed commissioned art projects and contributed to a community mural project. Her artwork is proudly displayed on the side of the Clinton Community Building as part of a mural created by the Art Club.

Carolyn’s personal essay is a clear explanation of why and how she chose her career and intends to attain it. Her connection to the community, both as a child and a young adult, has played a significant role in shaping her goals. Her passion for math and science inspired her to pursue a career in pharmacy, viewing it as an opportunity to give back and serve her community after graduation. She is committed to becoming a pharmacist and has clear long-term goals for her future.

The 2025 Lilly Scholar had a very bright personality, was poised, and had a professional appearance during her second interview for the selection process. Carolyn spoke openly about her aspirations for personal growth and maximizing her potential. She plans to earn a pharmacy technician license and work while attending college to defray the cost of attendance. Throughout her interviews, she demonstrated confidence, preparation, and a passion for her goals and commitment to community service. Carolyn’s enthusiasm was evident as she discussed her love for art, working with children, her plans to obtain a pharmacy technician license, and her long-term goal of earning a doctorate in pharmacy.

Appraisal letters from the school counselor, staff, and employer were enthusiastic to support Carolyn as a Lilly Scholarship applicant. They described her as a top scholar, driven, mature, responsible, respectful, having a great work ethic, creative, versatile, a great role model, and genuinely kind.

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.

“I am very happy I get to pursue my education without financial worries. I am so honored,” said Carolyn, Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipient.

16 Vermillion County students applied for this year’s Lilly Scholarship. In determining Vermillion County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar nominees, consideration was given to criterion of academic performance, school activities and/or work, volunteerism, personal statement of need, letters of recommendation, goal essay, and interviews by the Vermillion County’s Nominating 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.

“The high caliber applicants from North Vermillion and South Vermillion high schools are very impressive every year. These students are mature, goal-oriented, highly involved in their schools and communities, and strongly recommended by their counselors, teachers, and peers. Interviews reveal their character, personality, and factors that have led students to their career goals. The Vermillion County Community Foundation Nominating Committee is committed to their serious and compassionate decision-making task and aware of the impact of their decisions,” says Nancy Reed, Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Coordinator for the Vermillion 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.

Western Indiana Community Foundation, established in 1990, is a nonprofit, tax-exempt philanthropic organization that was founded as Western Indiana’s partner, resource, and steward in philanthropy.  The Foundation manages $43.5 million in charitable assets and administers over 350 charitable funds – each of which supports the unique charitable intent of the donor who established the fund.  Annually, the Foundation awards nearly 1.2 million dollars in grants and scholarships to support Fountain County communities and is a National Standards-certified community foundation.

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.