Pictured: Keith Perin, RCCF Board President; Kristie Amos, RCCF Program Officer; Jessica Roberts; Kelby Roberts 2023 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Recipient; Ryan Roberts; Karen Brashaber, RCCF Board Vice President; Gerald Mohr, RCCF Interim Executive Director

The Rush County Community Foundation is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2023 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Rush County – Kelby Roberts of Rushville Consolidated High School.  Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.

“Kelby’s leadership experiences and academic accomplishments appealed to the nomination committee,” said Gerald Mohr, executive director of the Rush County 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.

“I am speechless that I was named the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipient. It will really help my dreams come true,” said Kelby Roberts, Rush County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar.  Roberts plans to attend Purdue University in West Lafayette and double major in political science and ag economics with a focus in prelaw and public policy.  Roberts is the daughter of Ryan and Jessica Roberts of Falmouth in Rush County.

In determining Rush County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar(s) nominees, consideration was given to Demonstrated Leadership, Extra-Curricular School Activities, Community Activities, and several other criterion by the LECSP Nominating 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.

“With 22 applicants for the LECS this year, competition was fierce and it was a difficult decision, as was played out during the review process. It is wonderful to have so many exceptional students qualified for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship,” said Gerald Mohr, Interim Executive Director of the Rush County Community Foundation.

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.

Meeting the philanthropic needs of Rush County since 1991, the Rush County Community Foundation, Inc., is a nonprofit public charity established to serve donors, award grants and scholarships, and provide leadership to enrich and enhance the quality of life in Rush County, Indiana, not only today, but for our future generations.  For more information, please visit or contact the RCCF office at 117 N. Main St., Rushville, IN 46173, or call (765) 938-1177.

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. 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.