(Franklin County, IN) – The Franklin County Community Foundation (FCCF) is pleased to announce Thatcher “Cole” Kelley of Franklin County High School as the recipient of the 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Franklin County. Cole is the son of William and Elizabeth Kelley. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.
Each Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides full tuition, required fees, and a special allocation of up to $900 per year for required books and 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 current scholars and alumni with resources and opportunities to be active leaders on their campuses and in their communities. The scholarship program and LSN are supported by grants from Lilly Endowment to Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) and Indiana Humanities.
The top two scholarship finalists will receive $3000 in FCCF scholarships. These finalists include: Loria Allen and Ayla Lienesch from Franklin County High School. Loria is the daughter of Samantha Allen. Ayla is the daughter of Michael and Colleen Lienesch.
The FCCF Lilly Scholarship Selection Committee considered leadership, character, honors, community involvement, written essays, and applicant appraisals to determine Franklin County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar nominees. 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.
“Our pool of Franklin County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship applicants was impressive. We are proud to have such a great group of students representing our community”, said Shelly Lunsford, Executive Director of the Franklin 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.
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.
(Franklin County Community Foundation press release)
