Contact: Chris May                                                                     December 18, 2024                                                    

      (765) 938-1177, ext 1 | cmay@rushcountyfoundation.org                

The Rush County Community Foundation (RCCF) has received a grant of $5,000,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. through the Community Leadership Implementation Grants component of the eighth phase of its Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII) initiative. This is one of 30 implementation grants being awarded through GIFT VIII, a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative designed to support the efforts of community foundations and their partners to strengthen quality of life for the people in the towns, cities, counties and regions they serve.

With the grant, RCCF will roll out a Rural Revitalization program to improve opportunities in Rush County’s small towns and unincorporated areas with four main objectives. 1) To bring high speed internet to more homes and businesses by adding roughly 70 miles of middle-mile broadband infrastructure. 2) To eliminate blight and position properties for infill housing opportunities through an acquisition and demolition program. These efforts will also include offering owner-occupied rehabilitation grants to help homeowners remain in place and improve their residences.  3) To increase and enhance recreational opportunities including improvements to county playgrounds and the development of river access points for canoeing and kayaking. 4) To coordinate efforts with Rush County officials for oversight of county ordinances and code enforcement.

“We are grateful to Lilly Endowment for their investment in Rush County and for sharing our vision to improve our community,” states RCCF executive director Chris May.  “This award is validation of more than 14 months of focus and dedication from our staff, board, stakeholders, and county representatives. I hope this success indicates that our organization is focused every day on fulfilling our mission of cultivating resources to enhance life in Rush County.”

RCCF developed its Rural Revitalization plan throughout 2023 and 2024.  In addition to utilizing Lilly Endowment GIFT VIII Planning Grant funding for public input, RCCF incorporated 953 responses in Rush County’s 2023-24 Comprehensive Plan public workshops, online public surveys, focus group discussions and open house conversations to identify the top issues facing Rush County and our county’s top priorities.

A resounding 81% of respondents agreed that broadband services should be improved throughout the county, making it a top priority.  Facing a declining population, the Rush County Comprehensive Plan ranked a strategic blight elimination program to bring properties onto the housing market as the #1 housing-related objective.  Additionally, recreational opportunities along the Flatrock and Big Blue Rivers and local park and playground improvements rated among the top parks and quality of life objectives.

The Rush County GIFT VIII Community Leadership Implementation Grant is slated to take shape in early 2025, aiming to complete work by the end of 2027.  RCCF will host workshops in the coming months with county and community leaders to discuss timelines, project specifics and roles.

Established in 1991, the Rush County Community Foundation holds nearly $30.5 million in assets.  2024 was a record year for RCCF, reaching all-time highs in assets and in grantmaking – supporting Rush County with nearly $1.1 million in payouts, including over $250,000 in scholarships.  Through its’ Lilly Endowment GIFT VII receipt of $5,000,000 in 2020, RCCF has played a leading role in planning and creation of the Love Community Center, set to open in early 2025.

In 1990, Lilly Endowment launched the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative to help establish and further develop community foundations throughout Indiana. Lilly Endowment hoped that Indiana’s community foundations could enhance the quality of life in their communities by convening conversations among people of diverse ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, occupations, races and cultural traditions about their communities’ most compelling needs and opportunities as well as the best ways to address them.

About Lilly Endowment

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. The Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, and maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.