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Henry County Community Foundation Receives $50,000 in planning grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

January 15, 2024
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The Henry County Community Foundation has received a $50,000 planning grant as part of the Lilly Endowment’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII) initiative.   The GIFT VIII planning grant will allow the Foundation to continue efforts from GIFT VII in addressing affordable child care and an early childhood learning gap.

“With the formation of the Henry County Child Care Network, the opening of Bev’s Kindergarten Prep at Tri Junior-Senior High School, and the development of numerous community partnerships, great steps have been taken to expand child care opportunities.  The GIFT VIII planning grant has made available necessary resources to build upon this work and provide guidance for the future of early child care and education in Henry County,” said the president and executive director, Jennifer Fox. “We are grateful for the opportunity provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.”

The Foundation will utilize the planning grant dollars to perform a focused community assessment on challenges and opportunities, which will focus on the needs for infant/toddler care and extended hours for school-aged children, all barriers to economic growth in Henry County.

“We cannot think of child care as a family issue. It is a community issue. If we want to grow our community, it is an economic issue and everyone’s problem whether you have young children or not,” shared Liane Nickey, executive director of the Henry County Child Care Network.

The Henry 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.

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.