2023 Parke County Lilly Endowment Community Scholar
The Parke Community Foundation is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2023 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Parke County – Josie Bodine of Parke Heritage High School. Josie is the daughter of Christopher and Sharon Bodine of Marshall. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.
“The Lilly Endowment Community Scholar applicants displayed discipline and academic prowess throughout the process,” said Brad Bumgardner, executive director of the Parke 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 undergraduate students studying on a full-time basis 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.
“As a Lilly Endowment Community Scholar, I am so honored to represent my community during and after college. I have been given this amazing opportunity and now I can attend a great college to gain a valuable education. I plan to major in elementary teaching. In order to become a great teacher and provide a good education for my students, I will work hard to prepare myself in a college that is best for me,” said Josie Bodine (Lilly Endowment Community Scholar).
In determining Parke County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar nominees, were selected by the Parke County 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.
The selection committee reviewed almost 50 applications for the Parke County Lilly Endowment Community Scholar award.
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 $486 million. More than 5,000 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.
Since 1993, the Parke County Community Foundation has been connecting donors with the needs of the Parke County community. In 2022, the Foundation has made grants and scholarships of more than $1 Million.
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 boar
d, 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.
