The Marshall County Community Foundation (MCCF) is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2024 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Marshall County is Cassidy Riddle of Plymouth High School. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.
“Cassidy’s academic performance, along with her leadership in many and varied community service, volunteer and school activities, was exceptional” said Beth Styers, MCCF Scholarship Committee Chair. “In addition to numerous awards and achievements at the local, state, and national levels, Cassidy started her own business. Cassidy is the daughter of Morris and Kimberlee Riddle. Cassidy plans to attend Purdue University to pursue a bachelor’s degree with a double major in agronomy and entomology.
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 incredibly grateful for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship and the ways it inspired me in both leadership capacity and community involvement. From school life to professional life, I’ve been a proud Hoosier who is happy to serve in an area that has given so much to me,” said Hope Amor, the Marshall County 2011 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar.
In determining Marshall County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar nominees, consideration was given to 1) academic performance; 2) community service, work experience, and leadership; 3) school activities; and 4) an application essay and interview by the Lilly Scholarship Selection 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.
“Cassidy was chosen as this year’s nomination and we congratulate Cassidy for her hard work! Each year we are so impressed with the amazing applicants from Marshall County. It is a difficult selection process because their high school careers are full of excellence” said Linda Yoder, MCCF Executive Director.
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 more than $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 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. About the Marshall County Community Foundation
The Marshall County Community Foundation is a public charity with local roots that helps great ideas take flight through endowment philanthropy. Since 1991, donors to the Marshall County Community Foundation have built the community’s assets and have returned over $26.5 million to Marshall County communities in grants and scholarships, $4.4 million from Community Funds. For more information about the Foundation, call 574.935.9159 or visit www.marshallcountycf.org
