2020 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipients announced
Published: December 16, 2019 by Gail Richards, JCCF President and CEO
The Johnson County Community Foundation (JCCF) announced that three Johnson County students have been selected as the 2020 Lilly Endowment Community Scholars.
The Johnson County Community Foundation is pleased to announce that from over 50 applicants, the following students were selected based on their impressive community service and academic dedication throughout their high school careers. Emma Dillon of Franklin Community High School, Eleanor Hammerschmitt of Roncalli High School, and Megan Johns of Greenwood High School will receive full-tuition scholarships and an annual $900.00 book stipend as the 2020 Johnson County Lilly Endowment Community Scholars.
“The JCCF Board and Scholarship Committee are pleased to have these three impressive young adults join the current Johnson County Lilly Scholars in representing our county,” said Scholarship Committee Chair Marcia Grossnickle. “This scholarship truly changes the lives of these students and we are blessed to be a part of that change.”
Gail Richards, JCCF President & CEO said, “The Scholarship Committee is repeatedly impressed by the high caliber students that we are able to review during the Lilly scholarship cycle each year. It is an extremely competitive process, and we are grateful to have a dedicated committee who undertakes the task of reviewing and nominating our recipients each year.”
This is the 23nd year that the Johnson County Community Foundation has administered the program locally and the third year in recent history that the county has been able to award three deserving students with the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. Each year, the 12-member Johnson County scholarship committee puts a great deal of time and thought into nominating these scholars. Applicants were evaluated based on volunteer community service, academic preparation and performance, leadership, and good character. Finalists were then invited to the interview round, from which final nominations were submitted to Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. (ICI) for the final selection of the recipients.
Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) oversees the administration of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship program statewide and provides final review and selection of the recipients. ICI is a nonprofit corporation that represents 30 regionally accredited degree granting, nonprofit, private colleges and universities in the state.
Since the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program was first offered in 1998, one of the primary goals of the initiative has been to raise the level of education attainment in Indiana. Since inception, 4,769 full-tuition scholarships have been awarded and over $405 million in scholarship tuition has been provided.
The scholarships are the result of a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative to: 1) help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in the communities; and 3) 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.
The Johnson County Community Foundation is a nonprofit public charity established in 1991 to serve donors, award grants and provide leadership to improve Johnson County forever. For more information, call JCCF at 317-738-2213 or visit our website at www.jccf.org.
