The Vermillion County Community Foundation, in partnership with the Vermillion County Redevelopment Commission, is embarking on an exciting initiative to understand and address the needs of our residents, and we need your valuable input!

We’ve created a brief Community Needs Survey to gather insights and perspectives from individuals like you in Vermillion County. Your responses will play a crucial role in shaping future initiatives and making our community an even better place to live. Information from this survey will also be utilized as the Vermillion County Redevelopment Commission continues work on the Ernie Pyle Childhood Center. The future center could include an additional wing that may house a partner organization and collaborate with the child care center. To optimize its use for the community, we are actively seeking input on the most effective ways to utilize this space.

Would you be willing to take a few minutes to complete the survey and share it with your friends, family, and neighbors? Your collective input will help us prioritize projects and allocate resources where they are needed most.

Thank you for being an essential part of our community. Your voice matters, and together, we can build a stronger, more vibrant future.

Take the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VermillionNeedsAssessment

A variety of new endowment funds have recently been established to benefits area communities and high school students.  For more details click on the link to learn more about each fund.

The new funds include: Fountain County Teacher Classroom Supply Assistance Program, Dallas Ponder Memorial Scholarship, Mark and Kathy Haas Unrestricted Fund, John & Pauline Bossaer Unrestricted Fund, Clinton Community Improvement Fund, E. Stanley & Vera Shew Unrestricted Fund, Lawrence & Patricia DeSutter Family Farm Memorial Scholarship, Dr. William Somerville Scholarship Fund, Robert & Helen Shelby Community Fund, Marilyn’s Village Inc., John & Madeline Ives Community Fund, Judy Ashton Ferrell Unrestricted Fund, Hunger Relief Fund, Paul & Pat Coolley Fund,  Terry A. Badger III Scholarship Fund, Jackson Township Fire Department Fund, Coal Creek Cemetery Endowment & Pass-Through Funds, and more!

To learn how you can establish a fund to benefit your community contact Dale at (765) 793-0702 or by email at dwhite@wicf-inc.org.

Vermillion County Community Foundation has received a $50,000 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 work closely with RJL Solutions, a Terre Haute-based consulting firm, and the Vermillion County Redevelopment Commission to conduct a Vermillion County Needs Assessment to learn more about the need for additional childcare resources, which could be utilized in the former Ernie Pyle Elementary School. These resources could include but are not limited to, before and after-school care, early learning initiatives, summer learning programs, and adult education learning opportunities. The closure of Ernie Pyle Elementary School at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, due to declining enrollment and its impact on state funding, has prompted the Redevelopment Commission’s commitment to preserving the facility. In Vermillion County, an estimated 345 children under the age of six and 257 school-aged children are in need of childcare services.

The Vermillion County Community Foundation 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, Vermillion County Community Foundation will have the opportunity to request funding to implement strategic initiatives and activities developed during the planning period that address especially compelling needs in Vermillion County.

“Great communities work tirelessly to identify strategic ways to support employers, families, and childcare providers in a community as well as to labor vigorously to advance childcare, early learning initiatives, and provide local opportunities for advancing adult education.  Through our partnerships with the Vermillion County Redevelopment Commission and RJL Solutions we are looking to understand the unique needs of Vermillion County and help turn vision into reality,” said Dale White, CEO of the Vermillion County Community Foundation.

Residents are encouraged to keep an eye out for public meetings and both online and in-person surveys as part of collaborative efforts concerning additional childcare resources needed in Vermillion County. This work will take place over the next four months.

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.

Vermillion County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Western Indiana Community Foundation, is a not-for-profit public charity established in 1996 to serve donors, award grants and scholarships, and provide leadership to improve all of Vermillion County.

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.

The Vermillion County Community Foundation is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2024 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Vermillion County, Cash Jones of South Vermillion High School. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.

“Cash excels in all the scholarship criteria but what sets him apart is his maturity and genuine interest in people. He wants to listen, offer support, prevent heartache, and give back to others with a purpose. He has strong goals for a reason but is so compassionate. Cash is a balance of confidence and humbleness,” said Nancy Reed, Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Coordinator for the Vermillion County Community Foundation.

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.

“This scholarship is life-changing. It gives me the opportunity to focus on the next chapter of my life and not worry about financial concerns. I am just really grateful. It is hard to express,” Cash Jones stated when notified he was the 2024 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar.

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 1998-99 school year and has supported the program every year since with grants totaling in excess of $505 million. More than 5,200 Indiana students have received the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship since the program’s inception.

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.

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. 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.

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